Beyond the Future
by DragonShadow
Summary: The sequel to "Memories of the Future" by A Psychadelic Leviathan. The war against religious oppression has finally been won... now the war against human extinction has begun.
1. Prologue: Memories of the Future

(Author's notes  
  
1: This story is a sequel to "Memories of the Future" by A Psychedelic Leviathan, and is written with his permission.  
  
2: The fic is completed already, so there's no chance of lagging off in the middle. It will be updated once every day with at least 1 chapter.  
  
3: This Prologue serves as a refresher for the events of "Memories of the Future" so you do NOT have to go back and re-read all 100,000 words in order to understand enough to enjoy this fic. If you haven't read "Memories of the Future" before, I highly recommend it, though it's probably not completely necessary to understand, in a general way, what is happening in this fic.)  
  
Prologue: Memories of the Future  
  
January 29th 2013  
  
It seems like life just doesn't like humanity as a whole. The best of us are slaughtered, while the worst of us always take the reigns. And suffering is all we can seem to bring to each other. At last, it's balanced out... but it doesn't matter. Just as humanity is on the verge of reaching a plateau between good and evil, it looks as if it's about to be annihilated. How did this all happen? It's a very long story... one I suppose is best recorded in case history is lost as tends to happen. If there are any survivors, they deserve to know the entire truth of human gullibility, greed... and sacrifice. And I should write it all down now, because the invasion is expected to begin any day.  
  
I suppose it first began back in June of 2005. A mass of Christian zealots were gathered outside of the White House, so me, Alex, and Clover were dispatched by WOOHP to try to rescue the President from the potentially deadly hoard. We were almost there, but listening to the man who would come to be known only as 'The Reverend' out front drove Clover insane, and she launched herself at him. This sparked an outcry and response that dwarfed the White House... and the entire American government. Out of the ashes of America rose the Imperium of Christ, a new nation governed by an extremist interpretation of the Bible that suppressed all other points of view. The rest of the world watched in shock while America slaughtered and enslaved its own people. The three of us were captured in the ensuing raids against WOOHP and turned over to the Attitude Correction Corp. Me and Alex were freed by Jerry and brought to England where WOOHP had rebuilt itself... but Clover wasn't so lucky...  
  
We spent years searching for Clover, but it turned out that she never left the American continent. She was freed after a few years, and set about fighting the government in her own small way. She even managed to find Mandy teaching a Grade School under an oppressive and very... evil little bastard named Octavio. Clover tells me that Mandy didn't remember anything, about us, about America... about pretty much anything before the Imperium took over. After a while of fraternizing with Clover, they were both captured and locked up by the ACC to be reconditioned to become respectable citizens of the Imperium of Christ. Which is to say, completely without independent thought.  
  
Clover tells me they spent months rotting in that anti-psych ward before they managed to break through a window and jump into a raging ocean. That should tell you something about how well they were treated by the Imperium. They washed up on an island and spent several months rotting there as well, with nobody but each other for company. I spent only a few weeks in the ACC facility, so I don't think I can imagine how hard it must have been to escape from it into a world where you had nothing but one other human for contact. It apparently drove Mandy to the breaking point, because she set out onto the ocean in a small makeshift raft with no food. That Clover decided to spurn her for being a lesbian probably didn't help her mental state, but judging now is exactly what we DON'T need to be doing.  
  
Mandy somehow managed to survive the voyage and wash up in America, because me and Alex ran into her during our hunt for Clover through the American continent. She was hiding in a small shack behind the old Beverly Hills High School... I'm ashamed to admit, I wanted to leave as quickly as possible. I know that in this world, a mind cannot last long, especially in the hands of the Imperium... but the haunted, unfocused... desperate look in her eyes scared me beyond reasoning. Alex I'm proud to say didn't share my idiotic knee-jerk response... but regardless of my idiocy, something good did come out of it. She gave us a general location for Clover's whereabouts, and we were able to go pick her up in the WOOHP Leviathan Jerry gave us to help search for her. It was so great to be a three woman team again after so long...  
  
Apparently Mandy in the meanwhile had been doing more than sitting around being creepy. She managed to join a resistance cell designed to fight against the Imperium, and she even reunited with an old high school flame named Lisa who, ironically, was working as a police officer and got Mandy a job as one as well. So while she stroked the Imperium with one hand, she punched it in the face repeatedly with the other. I can appreciate the poetic justice in this, but really I'm not sure if she got better mentally or if the feeling of power only drove her even more insane. I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore... but I'm getting ahead of myself.  
  
Me, Alex and Clover struggled to do what we could to the Imperium's plans while Mandy struggled with her own life, and her own fight against the Imperium. Details are sketchy, as there's no one who intimately knows what happened, but apparently some have reported seeing her and Donna Ramone of all people together. Some say they were locked in an epic battle of wills, others insist they were lovers. Whatever happened there in California will now never be known, since the Imperium, to quell an uprising Mandy helped start, dropped a nuclear weapon and turned the state into a smoldering crater. We WOOHP girls didn't fare that much better unfortunately. We were captured for a time... along with another WOOHP team... but none of them made it out. Not even Brittany...  
  
Some people say they saw Mandy and Alex traveling together after that... looking a bit more intimate than I would have thought. Alex has refused to talk about it though, so I haven't pressed her on it. It's really none of my business, it's between her and Mandy. And it should stay that way as long as Alex wants it to.  
  
There was even a time we thought Clover was dead, after a failed assassination attempt on The Reverend. The war took its toll on all of us, physically and emotionally... but none moreso than Mandy. When she saw Clover again, I swear I thought she was going to explode and try to kill either Clover or herself right there. But thankfully it didn't happen and they both lived to fight the good fight, going for the big prize. After such a long struggle... and so many horrors witnessed... I saw Moscow wiped out in an instant with a sonic cannon capable of such sound that it could wipe out an entire city. Millions of people executed in the blink of an eye... unearthly technology...  
  
Unearthly it was. When Clover was about to kill him once and for all, he revealed himself to be an alien... or perhaps even a demon, if you believe in that kind of thing. Yes, I think demon is a better word. A demon from the stars. Nothing we had could stop it. Bullets, rockets, all of it pretty much bounced off that hideous ball. Ultimately... it took nothing less than the ultimate sacrifice to bring it down. Was it one of us who was trained by the government who did it? Was it one of us who always lived and loved each other like sisters, who always put ourselves at risk to save the world?  
  
No... it was Mandy. She drank an experimental chemical called Faustium developed by the government to create the perfect soldier. But as a side effect, the soldier's genetic makeup accelerated until... detonation. She couldn't fight him... so she threw herself up into the atmosphere and took him with her. We couldn't do anything... only watch as the woman who'd spent too much of her life trapped in the bonds of her own mind blew herself up to save the rest of us. But the Reverend's words have set us all on edge... more are on their way despite Mandy's sacrifice.  
  
I can only hope... and perhaps pray... that humanity can survive the coming disaster. But I know we only have this chance because of Mandy's sacrifice... so we're finally going to lay her to rest soon. I wish nothing more than to bring her back and set her mind at ease... but as it is, I can't. But I can honor her and everything she did in her life, everything she fought even as we all have to continue fighting. At least she can finally rest wherever she is now... and where we'll one day go.  
  
If you future generations read this, remember and don't repeat our mistakes. And always honor the name "Amanda Victoria Delaroyale".  
  
Don't disbelieve it.  
No matter what your friends might say.  
We'll meet up again some place some way.  
We love you Mandy.  
  
Samantha Simpson 


	2. One Sided War

Part 01: One-Sided War  
  
The sun was rising over the distance horizon, casting a pale orange glow over what was soon to become the first battlefield in the war for Earth. They were standing on a vast plane in Washington DC, watching the skies for any sign of approaching vessels. There was no time for words or tender moments right now. The satellites that The Rev had kept in place told them that a large squad of ships was approaching. They would be there any minute, a race of almost unstoppable beings... but they'd had a month to prepare.  
  
Samantha 'Sam' Simpson clutched a modified automatic rifle in her hands, staring at the sky through narrowed eyes. She was wearing her green WOOHP jumpsuit, and her waist length red hair waved in the gentle wind as she waited. The weapon in her arms was modified to emit sonic pulses instead of fire bullets; something the scientists who operated the Ear Bleeder used in Moscow had cooked up from what they knew of the alien technology The Rev left behind.  
  
Alexandria 'Alex' Navarro stood on her right, wearing her yellow WOOHP uniform and clutching her sonic weapon nervously in her arms. Her hair was shoulder length by now, and her dark brown eyes were scanning the skies. They were red and bloodshot after grieving for Mandy for the last few weeks. She had actually grown closer to Mandy than anyone else, and her loss had struck the Latino woman pretty hard.  
  
Clover Taylor stood on Sam's left, her expression carefully cold and patient as she waited for the coming onslaught. Her platinum blonde hair had grown past shoulder length, almost longer than the weapon she held in front of her at the ready. She wore her red WOOHP uniform, though everyone who stood around and behind her was wearing more traditional army fatigues.  
  
Suddenly the clouds seemed to darken, swirling around each other as a massive shape appeared through them. "Ready!" Sam shouted at the top of her voice in a tone normally reserved for high-ranking military officials. The entire squad of fighters raised their weapons in unison, including the three WOOHP spies. They watched the dark gray ship burst through the clouds, descending toward them at frightening speeds.  
  
"Aim!" Sam shouted. Guns turned skyward, tracing the ship's movements down through the sky. They didn't stand a chance. Only a fraction of them were actually trained for combat. The majority of their force was comprised of civilians, and a number of them weren't even eighteen years old yet. There was no being picky about who helped them now.  
  
The ship was only forty yards from the ground when Sam finally yelled, "Fire!" There was no sound, nor even any indication that anything was happening. But the weapons slowly began to vibrate in their arms, aiming toward the space ship. The ship began to rock, sparks running along its surface as the modified frequency sound waves went to work.  
  
"It's working!" One of the soldiers in the back exclaimed gleefully. Others echoed the sentiments excitedly.  
  
"Shut up and concentrate!" Sam shouted back, halting the premature celebration. Suddenly several hatches on the bottom of the ship flung themselves open, and several masses of flesh and tentacles fell to the grass below, rolling toward them at an alarming rate of speed. Several people in the back started to scream, and some turned their weapons on the new threat. "Keep your aim on the ship!" Sam screamed.  
  
"Tell me something Sam. Did we really expect this to work?" Alex mumbled aside to Sam as the ship rocked from the force of their sound waves, but remained afloat.  
  
"It was the only strategy we could come up with without knowing everything about the Zardexians, or having enough artillery to take them all out." Sam replied grimly. "We need to get a good look at what makes these things tick... we need a sample from one. Dead or alive."  
  
"And the first one had to explode into billions of tiny space particles." Alex muttered sourly. The hailstorm of monstrosities was moving toward them, almost right on top of them by now while they kept their weapons on the ship. A good portion of their soldiers had already broken formation and turned to flee for their lives.  
  
"I don't think this is working Sam!" Clover shouted over the screams of their comrades and the hideous shrieks from the abominations before them.  
  
"Then it's time for OPERATION B!" Sam screamed. In unison every soldier in the group dropped their miniature sonic guns and whipped real AK-47's out of the straps on their backs. A storm of bullets washed over the Zardexians, slamming into their fragile-looking flesh, but not one bullet penetrated their tough hides.  
  
Sam tried to aim into the creature's mouths, but that didn't seem to work either. It didn't look as if all the bullets in the world could stop them, as finally the monsters roiled into the crowds, needle sharp tentacles tearing through fragile human bodies like railroad spikes. The gunfire continued, but more and more soldiers began to break and run for their lives, going into a frenzied panic.  
  
"Sam, it's not working!" Alex shouted over the roar of the monsters that now surrounded them.  
  
"Damnit! Everyone, retreat!" Sam called to the crowd. Sam, Clover, and Alex turned to run with all their might away from their enemies.  
  
Screams of pain and terror mingled with the horrendous shrieks of the rolling death balls as the three women weaved through the crowd. Alex stopped near a small teenage girl who'd tripped over a still human heart. The girl was staring at it in horror, but Alex grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. "No time to gawk! Get going!" She shoved the girl toward the helicopter transports that had brought them here.  
  
"Alex watch out!" Clover screamed. Alex flattened herself on the grass to avoid a tentacle that passed right overhead. She rolled furiously to the side away from the ball, but it paced her easily. The gaping maws that covered the core of its body were dripping with anticipatory saliva. Alex screamed and tried to throw herself away from it, but one tentacle speared straight through her leg, pinning her to the ground.  
  
"Aaaagh! No... nononono!" Alex cried and tried to grab at the grass in vain as the creature held her up by the hole in her leg, dangling her upside down in front of one of its many mouths. Alex gulped in pain and fear as blood dribbled from her leg up the front of her suit. "You... you guys will never win!" Alex shouted defiantly.  
  
The monster let out something resembling a laugh and pulled her toward its massive, gaping maw. "Alex!" Sam screamed as she leapt at the monster, raising her gun over her head like a club. She slammed it into one of the sets of jaws, but it was impaled on one sharp tooth and stuck there.  
  
"Alex, hold on!" Clover grabbed her hands and tried to pull her back toward the ground, ignoring the blood raining down on her from Alex's leg. "Hang on, I got ya... wagh!" Another tentacle swept her feet out from under her, sending her sprawling out on the grass.  
  
"Come on you dentist's nightmare! You want a real meal, drop her and come after me!" Sam screamed, whirling to plant a solid kick to the gun lodged in the creature's jaw. The creature howled in pain and fury as the metal gun scraped against its comparatively sensitive jaws. It dropped Alex on top of Clover with a thud, turning its full attention to Sam.  
  
"That's right puss-ball! Come on!" Sam backed away from the monster, holding her arms out to the sides. It rolled toward her, all of its tentacles held straight out from its body like spears as its wrinkly, shriveled ball of skin glowed bright red in fury. She waited for Clover to scramble to her feet and lift Alex off the ground before turning to run toward the helicopters. The monster gave chase, staying right behind her and lashing out at her with vicious impaling strikes.  
  
All around them the monsters were rolling in puddles of blood. The grass seemed permanently stained red, though few intact bodies remained. They had mostly been devoured, or were being devoured by the Zardexian menace.  
  
"Okay, we're here!" Clover shouted over the beating of helicopter blades to the wounded and dazed Latino in her arms as she jumped into the helicopter.  
  
"Go go go!" Sam screamed, still running full speed toward the helicopter. The pilot saluted her and pulled the machine into the air, moving higher and higher with ever moment. Sam looked back at the creature right on her tail, then turned forward again and leapt into the sky as high as she could.  
  
One hand gripped the bottom of the helicopter door. She dangled as it pulled higher. One tentacle lashed out, but she kicked her legs out furiously enough to avoid the grasping tentacle. She looked down to see the battlefield fade into the distance, stained with so much human blood... but not a single drop of theirs. What was she thinking, trying this?  
  
She looked up when she felt a hand grip her wrist. "Come on, get inside." A battered and beat up looking officer yanked her up into the helicopter easily. She was impressively strong, but Sam didn't have either the time or inclination to think about that right now.  
  
Sam leaned against the helicopter door, sitting on the floor and looking around. Clover had Alex sitting on one of the seats with her leg up across Clover's lap so she could bandage it up. Alex was wincing and grunting in pain. Other than the three spies and Sam's savior, there were only three other people in a helicopter that had ferried twenty-five to the site.  
  
"Shit..." Sam clenched her fists, watching Alex tense up in pain while Clover struggled to halt the blood flow from her wound. "All this lost life and we didn't make any damn headway whatsoever..." She reached up to rub her head. "Why was I in charge of this operation? Anyone else could've done better... we didn't even learn anything useful..."  
  
"That's not true." Sam's rescuer told her simply. Sam looked up to see her staring out the window of the helicopter side door. Sam pushed herself up to look out beside her. The Zardexians' ship had landed in the field and was smoking, shuddering as electrical energy ran through the hull. "We confirmed that sound waves do effect their technology. That must be why they made such a big sound wave cannon like the one used in Moscow. For civil wars."  
  
"But what we used wasn't enough for any permanent damage..." Sam growled.  
  
"If we use the original Ear Bleeder..." The officer began, but Sam cut her off.  
  
"No! We're never touching that thing again." Sam glared at the officer venomously, who stared back. "It's too powerful to be used effectively in small areas. Besides, we don't even know if they're susceptible to sound, and THEY are the ones we have to worry about. Even if we destroyed every ship they've got, they could still massacre us all." Sam sighed and plopped down on the seat by the door, rubbing her forehead.  
  
"Ow... ooohhh..." Alex groaned and bit her lip in pain as Clover pulled the bandage tightly over her wound. The white cloth was already stained deep crimson, and Alex was looking a bit pale in the face. "God that HURTS..." Alex grunted through gritted teeth.  
  
"Well it's not exactly a flesh wound." Clover obviously tried to keep her tone lighthearted, but the seriousness of the situation was not lost on Alex. "Just relax, we'll get back to base and they'll staple manhole covers to your leg or something."  
  
"Feels like they'll need to..." Alex gulped and leaned back in her seat when Clover finished tying the bandage off. From the other side of the copter a girl stood up and walked over to them. In fact, it was the girl from the field who Alex had saved.  
  
"Um... I'm sorry I got you hurt..." She looked at Alex apologetically. Her skin was black and smooth as silk, with glittering beautiful black eyes. She couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. How she could've gotten on this strike force Sam didn't know. The cut off was supposed to be sixteen.  
  
"Hey, don't sweat it kid." Alex waved aside the apology with a kindhearted, but tired smile. "I can't say I blame you. I was kind of squeamish too when I was your age." Man, hearing Alex say that made Sam feel like an old woman. And she was only twenty-six. Of course, she felt a hundred and fifty, so she supposed it balanced out.  
  
"I'm Kira." The little girl held out her hand to Alex with a bit more confidence than she'd displayed a moment ago.  
  
"Alex." Alex smiled up at her and took her hand in a rather weak handshake, but nobody expected her to be at a hundred percent after losing so much blood.  
  
The helicopter faded into silence for the next several hours until they reached the London base where WOOHP was currently situated. Speed of travel had been one of the concerns of the Imperium, thus they'd made some pretty fast-moving vehicles. Jerry... unfortunately... had been in Moscow when the Imperium of Christ had used their Ear Bleeder to help obliterate the entire city's occupants. Sam had been elected to the office of new WOOHP director... and incidentally, new leader of the entire Earth's defense. This was way too big for her...  
  
Of course, no matter how much of a danger the Zardexian threat was, there were still those countries that refused to follow the rest of the world. Most of the Middle East, though united by their common struggle against an enemy, refused to coordinate and work together. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' applied here... but that didn't mean they liked each other.  
  
Sam just stared out the window as the helicopter lowered to the ground in front of Buckingham Palace, where the resistance against the Zardexians had taken root. Some countries had even refused to believe in the alien menace, believing that it was a cover for 'typical American treachery'. Of course, now that the invasion had officially begun Sam could only imagine what was happening to them now. More needless loss of life to human arrogance and stupidity. Were they even worth saving?  
  
"Sam!" Sam was jarred out of her thoughts by Clover, who had Alex leaning against her shoulder while the others filed out of the helicopter. Kira stopped to help hold Alex though. "Come on, you should get to the throne room." Clover told her. Sam nodded numbly and climbed out of the helicopter after them. All of the other copters that had taken them to the battlefield were scattered around, ten in all. Each had carried twenty-five people out there... now the most one carried was ten.  
  
Sam shook this out of her mind and went inside the palace, making her way toward the throne room through the aging and illustrious palace. They chose it because they needed a symbol of human architectural ability, and power. It wasn't much anymore though, bullet holes dotted the drapes and walls after the Imperium had overtaken it later on in the war.  
  
Sam walked into the throne room to find Pamela Reynolds waiting for her there. After Jerry's death, the three senior spies had come to help them. Trained as spies much like Sam Alex and Clover, Pam Alice and Crimson had been undercover for Jerry for a long time deep inside the Imperium's army. But they'd all been fitted with mind-control collars, locking them into their roles. Now with the controller gone, they were free to help again, and they did with Pam serving as Sam's second-in-command.  
  
"Don't even say a word." Pam sighed, watching Sam walk up the steps to the throne to plop down tiredly. "I know, it's being repeated all over the planet. Calls for reinforcements are coming in from absolutely every front we set up, regardless of what tactics they try to employ. Even those countries who refused to join are crying for help."  
  
"Shortest war in history..." Sam muttered darkly and closed her eyes. "It'll be over in under twenty-four hours..."  
  
"It's not over yet though." Pam reminded her, putting a hand to her chin. "If there's a way to disable their technology maybe..."  
  
"Why am I leader here?" Sam asked suddenly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why am I the leader? You're the senior officer, you should have taken over for Jerry." Sam told her.  
  
"I may be the senior officer, but I'm not the superior officer." Pam walked up beside the throne and knelt down so that they were at eye level. "You're the best hope humanity has left..."  
  
"Then they're screwed... because I can't do this!" Sam shoved herself up from the throne and turned to leave. Pam ran up behind her and grabbed her arm, holding her back.  
  
"You're going to abandon everybody? Let them all die hopeless without anyone to guide them?" Pam demanded.  
  
"Why do they need anyone to guide them? Can't they think for their own damn selves!?" Sam shot back. "Isn't blindly following some authority figure exactly what let all of this start in the first place!?"  
  
Pam surprised her by slapping her across the face and shoving her up against he wall to pin her there. Sam stared at her in shock. "Yes, it is! But that's the nature of the beast Sam! We NEED a leader, now more than ever! Without one, we'll all die apart. Human strength is unity... and we need YOU to unify us." Sam's eyes lowered toward the floor and Pam loosened her grip, laying her hands against Sam's shoulders.  
  
"There's nothing I can do..."  
  
Pam sighed and stared at her, then squeezed her shoulders. "Take a rest Sam... I'll send out retreat orders to all of the battlefronts. This is a big planet after all. If we can't beat 'em, we can hide from 'em while we devise a working battle plan." Sam nodded slowly, not in the mood to argue. She turned to leave, trying not to let her feet scrape against the floor as she walked.  
  
She walked down the hall blankly toward her room, but she was only halfway there when she collapsed to her knees, tears sliding down her face. Everywhere she went, people died. And she could never do anything about it... the images that had haunted her since Moscow again returned. She hadn't even been able to see it... only the silent knowledge of its happening. The Ear Bleeder's hemorrhage-inducing blast had either killed or disabled everyone... the survivors had been slaughtered like sheep. The worst was the sight of an Imperial Colonel carving a giant 'ZERO' where once had been ten million...  
  
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Sam slammed her fist into the floor repeatedly, until she was sure her knuckles had shattered from the impacts. Finally she stopped and leaned against the wall, the dull throbbing pain in her hand the only reminder that this wasn't all just one long dream.  
  
"Sam?" A gentle, pleasant voice called. How did Alex keep such a gentle tone? Sam looked up to see Alex walking toward her with the aid of a pair of crutches and a thick white bandage wrapped around her pierced leg. "Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. Sam couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head.  
  
"Who IS okay these days?" She asked, wiping at her eyes. Alex stood on one leg and set her crutches aside so she could bend down and help Sam climb to her feet. "How do you do it Alex?" Sam asked as Alex reached for her crutches.  
  
"Do what?" Alex asked.  
  
"Stay so happy." Sam stated. Alex stared at her for a moment, then gave her a dry smile.  
  
"Who says I'm happy?" She asked. Sam nodded slowly as she turned to walk down the hall again. Alex followed after her on her crutches. Suddenly a scream erupted from further down the hallway, followed by a massive crash that made the entire building shudder.  
  
"What the Hell...!?" Sam charged down the hallway toward the front entrance. She skidded to a stop when she saw the massive rolling form of a Zardexian moving through the entrance, its tentacles ripping through the support structures and bodies of the guards like they were nothing. "How did it find us out here!?" Sam exclaimed.  
  
"Uh... S... Sam... it's coming this way!" Alex backed away furiously as the Zardexian howled darkly and rolled toward them. Sam whirled and ran down the hall again, sweeping Alex up in her arms to carry her since the crutches would only slow them down. They charged through the hallway as fast as they could, with the rolling ball of disgusting death right on their tail.  
  
Sam leapt over one lashing tentacle, lunging to the end of a hall and running up the stairs. The Zardexian planted its tentacles on the stairs to climb them like a centipede since it couldn't very well roll up them. "Hey... one of its tentacles has blood on it... Sam I think that's the one that attacked me in Washington!" Alex exclaimed.  
  
"Thanks Alex, that's really useful information!" Sam growled sarcastically as she slammed into a wall to turn a corner at full speed. "Get out of the way!" Sam screamed at several other people in the hall. When they spotted the Zardexian they screamed and tried to reach a door, but they weren't fast enough.  
  
The alien paid them no mind however, rolling right on past them after Alex and Sam. The shrieks from deep within its body were deafening and haunting, as its tentacles lashed out to try to get a hold of them. The walls around the two women were torn apart, leaving holes where the tentacles had plunged into them.  
  
Sam charged toward a window at full speed, pumping her legs as fast as she could. "Sam...? What are you doing!? No!" Alex screamed as Sam charged out onto the balcony and leapt toward it. She sailed over the rail, then grabbed onto it tightly with one hand while the other wrapped tightly around Alex. They swung back and hit the side of the balcony hard as the Zardexian rolled out after them at full speed.  
  
Like any rolling ball, it couldn't stop on a dime. It broke straight through the balcony rail right next to Sam and began to plummet toward the ground. Its tentacles whipped out to grab hold of them, but Sam whipped her legs around to avoid them and the creature fell to the lawn below. It hit the ground with a sickening thud and an enraged shriek before moving to head back inside to go up after them.  
  
"Oh no you don't, you overgrown testicle!" Crimson shouted from a nearby crane as a massive black wrecking ball used for the demolition of too badly destroyed parts of the palace swung down toward the alien. The ball came down right on top of it, driving it into the ground like a railroad spike amid shards of cement that flew into the air.  
  
The tentacles surged with a cry of fury for a moment before they finally went limp underneath the massive black wrecking ball. Sam sighed and closed her eyes, still dangling from the balcony rail.  
  
"Well, if we could get an army of wrecking balls out there we might stand a chance." Alex quipped. Sam smirked, then looked up when several people grabbed her arms to help pull her back up onto the balcony. She and Alex sat on the balcony, looking down at the flattened ball of flesh far underneath them.  
  
"Are you alright sir?" One of the former Imperium soldiers asked. Sam hated being called 'sir', but this was technically an army, so it was unavoidable.  
  
"I'm fine..." Sam pushed herself up, staring down at the wrecking ball. "It's almost like it was hunting us specifically... or at least... Alex..." Sam looked down at her Latino friend. Alex's eyes went wide and she gulped. "In any case, we need to go into hiding too if they know where we are. Tell everyone except the doctor to begin evacuation procedures. Take the body of the Zardexian with you for research if you can. Move to Base Two in Greenland, but save us a copter. Alex, we're going to see the doctor."  
  
"O... okay..." Alex nodded. Sam picked her up and carried her inside down to the makeshift infirmary in what used to be the palace kitchen. The doctor watched them enter from behind a pair of sharply pointed glasses that sat in front of kind, soft blue eyes.  
  
"Hey, Doctor Lawrence. Look her over... tell me if you find anything unusual at all. Whether it's harmful or not." Sam set Alex on one of the small steel tables in the middle of the room. The doctor nodded and walked toward Alex while the Latino woman stared at Sam worriedly. "Relax... it's just a precaution..." Sam patted her hand before turning to leave and give them some privacy.  
  
Clover rushed up to her quickly. "Sam, what's going on!? Everyone's evacuating, and they said Alex is hurt again!"  
  
"One of the Zardexians found us... and I'm just having Alex looked over just in case." Sam replied. "You should leave with the others."  
  
"Bullshit, I'm not leaving Alex here. We've been separated several times during all this, I'll be damned if I'm letting it happen again." Clover replied vehemently. Sam nodded and leaned against the wall to wait for the prognosis on Alex.  
  
Hours whittled away, and the palace emptied with surprising speed until the three spies were left alone in the palace with the doctor still looking Alex over. Medical technology had suffered during the war, cast aside in favor of weapon research on all sides, but that didn't mean they were back in the stone-ages.  
  
Finally as the night was beginning to dominate the sky outside the doctor emerged from the room, looking at Sam. "I suppose you knew what I was going to find..." He said softly. Sam swore sharply under her breath.  
  
"What? What is it?" Clover asked.  
  
"In 2007 scientists researching weapons in Alaska discovered a strange species of insect, that used a special kind of venom... not to hinder its prey, but to mark it with a particular scent. It then let the prey go back to its den... so that it could follow and devour the entire lot." The doctor told her smoothly. Clover stared at him blankly.  
  
"Wh... what does that have to do with Alex...?" Clover asked.  
  
"There's venom in her system that has much of the same consistency..." The doctor informed her. "Her body is giving off peculiar pheromones... that I can only assume until a study is done of the Zardexian body is easily detectable by the Zardexians."  
  
"But you don't know that for sure. I say we go to the second base, and find out the truth." Clover stated.  
  
"Agreed... but we can't take Alex with us..." Sam said softly.  
  
"What!?" Clover demanded.  
  
"For all we know she's a walking spotlight Clover." Sam said. "We don't know for sure, but that's not a risk we can reasonably take."  
  
"Wh... well can't we get rid of the pheromones somehow? A blood transfusion or something?" Clover asked.  
  
"Her body is already under stress from the wound on her leg. A blood transfusion would certainly kill her." The doctor told her.  
  
"We're not leaving her here alone!" Clover screamed angrily.  
  
"I never said we were." Sam replied. Clover and the doctor both turned to her curiously as she turned to the doctor. "Me, Alex and Clover will find another place to stay until you study the Zardexian and tell us whether or not these things really can trace the pheromones, or if it was just a lucky guess." She reached into her suit and handed the doctor a small paper. "This is the frequency my communicator will be on... use it to contact me once your research is done. And when you get there, tell Pam she's in charge of WOOHP now."  
  
"Temporarily...?" The doctor asked. Sam didn't reply, staring at him. "Understood." The doctor nodded and turned to head toward the front doors of the palace. Clover watched him go, then turned to Sam with an admiring gaze.  
  
"You know this is probably suicide, if they really can track her." Clover said.  
  
"Like you said. We're not just telling her to get lost." Sam replied, looking back steadily. Clover nodded and they both turned to head into the kitchen, where Alex was just finishing zipping up her WOOHP uniform.  
  
"Well guys? What's the diagnosis?" Alex asked nervously.  
  
"We're staying here for a while." Sam replied. "Think of it as a vacation from the war..."  
  
"A vacation?" Alex blinked. "Why...?"  
  
"Don't think about that." Clover told her. "But we should get out of here and find another place to stay. Something tells me the Zardexians won't be happy when they realize we actually managed to kill one of 'em." Clover grabbed Alex's crutches and held them out to her. Alex still looked puzzled and worried, but she took them and stood up from the table.  
  
"Agreed. Lets get going girls." Sam gestured for them to follow her as she turned to leave Buckingham Palace. Clover and Alex followed right behind her out into the starry night outside. They'd been on their own before, so this was really no trouble... the only possible problems were Zardexian revenge-hunts and the roving bands of lunatics that had claimed many cities around the world as the sane people gathered in the capitols to plan the defense of Earth.  
  
Clover was right, it was suicide. But at this point, Sam wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Time would tell.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	3. War Journal 1

Part 02: War Journal 1  
  
February 1st 2013  
  
Damnit Sam, what are you doing? Doctor Richard Lawrence told me upon arriving at the Greenland Base that Sam had effectively resigned her position as WOOHP commander and left me in charge. I hope nobody finds out our leader just, in effect, completely abandoned us. It could destroy the already pitifully low morale of the remaining troops. I've got to keep it secret... if it leaks, the entire war effort is screwed.  
  
On the very small upside, the Greenland Base is very close to being fully operational after only 30 hours. All in all I'm pretty proud of the troops we have here. They're determined to follow their orders and get things done. I think it's more because they hate the Zardexian bastards than because they have any loyalty to the human race though. Oh well, I'll take what I can get at this point. I hope nothing too bad happens.  
  
Doctor Lawrence also informs us that the Zardexians may be able to 'mark' their prey with special venom that makes them, basically, stick out like biological spotlights. Fantastic, that's all we need. Now we can't really fight them OR hide from them. But it's only a theory, and he says he needs more time to study the Zardexian we have here to make sure.  
  
This will be the first time we get to look at one of the bastards up close without being dumped into its mouth, so this is a pretty historic time. I wish I could be excited about this, but it just feels like studying a knife. You don't need to know what it's made of to know it can kill you.  
  
Still, here's hoping science can provide a clear answer to our troubles.  
  
Pamela Reynolds  
  
February 2nd 2013  
  
Good God... we got the communications center up and running this afternoon. The casualty reports from every military bunker across the planet have been pouring in ever since we plugged in the last wire. We've been trying to warn them all about the enemy's 'marking' venom, but this puts us in the deplorable position of having to put down our own troops to keep from being tracked.  
  
In a sense though, despite everything, I somehow don't think we humans are all that different from the Zardexians. Even before these creatures came here, I was captured and controlled by a man named Edison. It's probably the ultimate irony that Sam, Alex and Clover saved us from him just two years before The Rev decided to take over the world. Be they human or alien, demons have always been around.  
  
I suppose it's a blessing that the Greenland Base hasn't been attacked by hostile forces yet. Everything's up and running by now, but I almost wish we'd had more technical difficulties. These casualty lists are long enough to make the most hardened General from history break down. There weren't THAT many people left on Earth at the end of the war against the Imperium of Christ.  
  
Is this it? The end of humanity? If it is, it's no rain of Hellfire that's for sure. They promised us Hellfire too. What a gyp.  
  
Pamela Reynolds  
  
February 3rd 2013  
  
Richard Lawrence, the doctor who reported Sam's AWOL state, says he's making progress with the Zardexian corpse. These things are a lot more than one would think by looking at them apparently. Their tentacles are coated with some kind of venom, though Richard hasn't been able to determine yet whether it's for tracking or some other purpose. Strangely, their innards are basically black holes that suck energy from food and pump it right back out again into the surrounding tissue. No word on what happens to the BODY of the person who's swallowed.  
  
Like I said though, they could be made of sugar and flower and it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference to me.  
  
On a personal note, Crimson's been acting kind of strange lately, but when I ask her what the problem is she shrugs me off with a mock salute and turns the other way. I suppose I have been acting different and kinda distant lately, but the casualty reports keep flooding in and the demands of leadership are weighing me down. I can't concentrate on being sociable right now.  
  
As they say, leadership is the loneliest job in existence. I'd might as well get used to it, because I haven't heard anything from Sam, and I'm not contacting her unless I have something to say.  
  
General Pamela Reynolds  
  
February 5th 2013  
  
The war flows on as always. I would have written yesterday, but we got an emergency distress call from the French resistance in Paris that they were surrounded on all sides. There wasn't much we could do but try to act as decoys to draw some forces away from them to let them escape. It's actually my first time seeing a live Zardexian up close. They're horrific beasts, with such fierce bloodlusts... maybe I was wrong about humans being like them. These are true demons.  
  
During the course of our decoy mission, several people got caught by flailing tentacles. I suppose we might have been able to save them... but there wasn't much point in it. They were Marked, whether the Zardexians did it or we did it, they would have died soon afterward anyway. Ultimately, we did manage to get a pretty good chunk of the French unit out of there in one piece. Maybe NOW they'll believe us about the alien tracking abilities.  
  
There is a bright spot in all this. The flood of casualty reports has been reduced from 1500 per day to 1300 per day. We as a species must be getting better at cowering in underground bunkers and hidden bases. At this rate we'd might as well tunnel under the Earth and try to become a race of Mole People. We'd be about as likely to survive.  
  
No, I'm not going to think like that. I'm the leader of WOOHP, the only organization remaining capable of defending the Earth. We'll only die if I fail, and I WILL die before I admit failure. The people need someone to depend on. They need someone to follow. I will give it to them, no matter what it takes.  
  
I just wish it WASN'T me they were relying on. I'm finding it harder and harder to blame Sam for leaving... but that doesn't mean I like the fact that she saddled ME with her duties.  
  
General Pamela Reynolds  
  
February 6th 2013  
  
We've stopped taking casualty reports. What's the point really? It's not like we're actually planning some counteroffensive that will require a lot of manpower. We've been cowering, and occasionally sending out a decoy mission to help another 'resistance cell' get out of a particularly sticky situation. You don't need a lot of personnel for that. You just need to put your hands over your head and close your eyes.  
  
Troop morale is plummeting. Crimson isn't talking to me at all anymore, and Alice keeps shooting me dirty looks. I swear if I didn't know better I'd think they were plotting against me or something. Hell, maybe the troops will mutiny and take me out of this damnable position. I'd welcome it. I'd rather be locked up. As if I'm very free right now anyway.  
  
Richard says he's close to a breakthrough with the dead Zardexian. He's been analyzing the venom to discover its exact properties, as if I really give a damn about some dead alien. We know what their venom does, we know it royally screws us even more than we were already screwed. How much more do we need to know about our ugly invaders? Unless he discovers that they dissolve on contact with water or something, I don't see how analyzing them will help.  
  
God, what happened to me? Looking back on my journal entries, I used to be much more professional and optimistic. And it's only been one Goddamn week. Am I THIS weak-willed that one week of casualties and helplessness have reduced me to a whining, whimpering little coward? I always imagined myself to be a fairly strong woman...  
  
I guess I've learned an important lesson about human arrogance. As if it matters what I learn now. Unless we find a weapon that can punch some serious holes in their defenses, or discover a dramatic weakness, nothing I learn now is likely to matter in a few weeks.  
  
General Pamela Reynolds  
  
February 7th 2013  
  
Richard finished his analysis of the Zardexian venom today. It turns out that its properties are actually two-fold. Like we figured out anyway, it does indeed cause the infected body to emit special pheromones that the Zardexians can scent many, many miles away. But it also acts as an exponentially amplifying sedative. This basically means that it lets them track you, AND slowly relaxes the muscles in your body, rendering you more and more helpless until finally it stops your body's functions altogether.  
  
Joy of joys, yet ANOTHER way in which the human race is screwed. Why couldn't we have been invaded by those little green men we always hear about? They probably wouldn't be able to screw us over so hard.  
  
Who am I kidding? We would've been slaughtered anyway. Damn that Reverend... if it wasn't for him the Earth would've been far better prepared for this alien onslaught. I know that was the REASON he came here in the first place, to soften us up against ourselves so the invasion force would have an easier time. But that only pisses me off more, knowing this was all according to his plan.  
  
Except for the part where he blew up of course. The world heaved a sigh of relief when he died... but the truth is that was only a minor victory. A small beam of white light amid a growing thunderstorm. Now the storm is here... and we're all gonna drown.  
  
Hmm... I should call Sam in the morning. Richard said she wanted me to call when we found out exactly what the Zardexian toxin did. I don't really want to see her now, but she deserves to know the truth, especially if Alex has been infected.  
  
General Pamela Reynolds 


	4. Uncharted Depths

Part 03: Uncharted Depths  
  
It was strange. They were now alone with nobody to back them up... but in a way, they felt a great burden lifted as they walked away from the former WOOHP base. Of course, they didn't walk away with nothing to protect themselves with. WOOHP hadn't stood still in the technology department over the years, and they'd developed a few whoppers that, while not enough to turn the tide of a war, were plenty to cruise around in though they were hardly inconspicuous.  
  
"I remember you guys scaring the shit out of me with one of these." Clover patted the dashboard of the massive WOOHP Leviathan that had been their protection and home for the last week. It was a mighty machine with a solid hundred foot tall spider-like frame, jagged and rough and shining with thick steel armor plates. On top of the spider's frame was a head that, thanks to Jerry's twisted sense of humor, resembled a demon head to combat the Imperium of Christ. The horns could be turned to acts as massive laser turrets, and the whole thing was powered by an internal nuclear reactor. Because it was so big, it had been a work in progress almost since the Imperium first took power. So there were VERY few. Far too few to turn the tide of the war against aliens with routinely superior technology. Besides, its bulk and firepower meant that it was also a danger to friendly fighters who stood too close to it or got in the way accidentally.  
  
"Yeah, I think you peed yourself." Alex chuckled lightly.  
  
"Hey, you watch a shining hundred foot demon head rise out of the water and see how well you keep bowel control." Clover shot back.  
  
Alex started chanting teasingly. "Pee-girl pee-girl pee-girl!"  
  
"Oh that's it!" Clover tackled Alex to the ground. It wasn't a serious fight Sam could tell, actually it was kind of nice. It was like sitting in a massive death machine version of her old living room in Beverly Hills. In a few minutes she heard Clover and Alex dissolve into lighthearted laughter, lying on the bottom of the Leviathan cockpit beside each other.  
  
"Hold onto something girls, we're heading underwater again." Sam said. The Leviathan lurched forward as its forelegs dipped into the ocean, followed by the rest of its gigantic frame. Massive ocean waves swept outward as the giant metal body slipped under the surface, finally settling into the water and landing on the craggy ocean floor. The massive legs moved slowly through the water, carrying them forward again.  
  
"So where exactly are we going now?" Clover asked curiously.  
  
"As usual, I don't really care. We're free to go anywhere." Sam replied. "We just won't be able to stay in any particular place for long." She exchanged a knowing glance with Clover, who nodded.  
  
"Why is that anyway?" Alex asked.  
  
"Nothing." Clover replied. They hadn't told Alex about the alien pheromones in her body, for fear of freaking her out. But, Sam had come up with a way to travel undetected. Underwater, the pheromones couldn't reach any of the Zardexians on the surface. Of course they had to surface eventually to stock up on air, food, and supplies. But thus far they'd had enough time to do all that and get back into the ocean before the aliens caught up with them. And if they didn't one day... well they WERE riding in a massive killing machine.  
  
"Lets go to Paris again. I've always loved going there." Alex said wistfully.  
  
Sam shrugged. "Paris it is." She altered their course toward France, looking around as the ocean life around them scattered to make way for the large machine. She blinked when one fish slammed right into the windshield in front of her.  
  
"Red light asshole!" Clover shouted jokingly at the fish as it swam away furiously. Alex laughed lightly and sat down on one of the seats in the back. Clover settled into the copilot's seat while Sam leaned back in her own seat, putting her hands behind her head as the giant death machine lolled onward under its own power.  
  
"Hey... you think we could go look for the Loch-Ness monster?" Alex mused curiously.  
  
"In this thing, we WOULD be the Loch-Ness monster." Clover replied. Alex chuckled lightly again, kicking her uninjured foot up.  
  
Suddenly the Leviathan lurched forward with an ear-shattering squeal of steel-on-steel, the main body beginning to fall toward the ocean floor in front of them. "Brake! Brake!" Sam jammed her hands down on the emergency stops, bringing the hulking machine to an abrupt halt. It leaned forward from its momentum, but soon settle back onto its legs.  
  
"What the Hell was that about?" Clover demanded angrily.  
  
"We tripped over something..." Sam took it off autopilot and turned the demon head down, activating the spotlight on the front for deep-sea navigation. They spotted an incredibly rusty hunk of steel underneath them, sitting amid the ocean rocks like one of them. "We hit a sunk ocean-liner. It must be embedded pretty deep in the rocks to trip this thing up."  
  
"Fantastic, we tripped over the Titanic. Can we get our foot out and keep going please?" Clover asked. Sam nodded and turned on the manual control for the Leviathan's legs. She pulled the leg up, accidentally dragging the ship out of the rocks with it. They could see corpses floating out of the ship to the ocean floor beneath them.  
  
"Ewe, that's worse than stepping in gum." Clover quipped.  
  
"I hope they don't get mad at us for disturbing their rest..." Alex gulped.  
  
"You don't believe in ghosts do you Alex?" Sam asked as she wriggled the Leviathan's leg to free the ocean-liner.  
  
"Well there's plenty of evidence that they exist. Besides, we have to be more than bags of meat right?" Alex replied.  
  
"Of course we're not bags of meat. We're actually bags of water." Sam smiled back teasingly. Alex huffed and turned away from her, hobbling away on her crutches as Sam finally managed to dislodge the ocean-liner from their war-machine's foot. Sam moved them carefully over the obstacle, then set the machine to autopilot again and leaned back in her chair.  
  
"Think I should go apologize?" Sam asked.  
  
"Duh." Clover retorted with a hint of her old arrogant self. Sam nodded and stood up, walking toward the small bedrooms that were put in for long missions. She peeked in the one Alex had claimed for her own on the first day, and found Alex lying on the small cot staring at the steel ceiling above her. Sam walked inside and closed the door behind her.  
  
"I'm sorry I made fun of you..." Sam said softly.  
  
"Do you think we're just bags of water...?" Alex asked softly.  
  
"No, I don't."  
  
"Then what do you think?"  
  
"Really... I don't know." Sam walked up to the bed and sat down beside her, putting one hand on Alex's thigh. "I try not to think about death these days... I've been a little busy thinking about how to stay alive." Sam smiled slightly. Alex smiled back.  
  
"I've been thinking about it a lot since Mandy died..." Alex turned her gaze back to the ceiling. "I mean... sure she was evil, and then turned a little crazy by the whole war and all... but... I..." She trailed off, blushing slightly. "I think if anyone deserves to live after dying... it's her..."  
  
"Well... you'll get no argument from me." Sam replied. Alex stared at the ceiling blankly, more tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. "Hey... come on. I know..." Sam reached out and pulled her friend into a tight hug, stroking her back. "I'm sure she's somewhere... somewhere she deserves to be for what she did for all of us, what she was made to go through..."  
  
"But the thing is..." Alex looked up at her from reddened eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. "When we were on the road alone... with nobody else around, no threats, no danger... just us... I saw what she was like when she wasn't crazy... she wasn't depressed... she wasn't evil..." She gulped. "All she wanted was to be loved, and accepted by her sister..." Alex stared at Sam, her lower lip quivering with barely contained emotions. "She was... beautiful..."  
  
Sam just stared at her, letting Alex bury her face in her shoulder again. The redhead slowly wrapped her arms around her friend, leaning her cheek against the top of her head. Alex's shoulders shook as sobs wracked her body. Sam felt her tears moistening her shoulder.  
  
Sam looked up when she heard Clover's voice over the intercom system. The Leviathan was designed to be manned by far more than three people. "Um... we're coming up on land Sam. You may want to get up here." Sam looked down at Alex again, who was looking at her.  
  
"You rest here Alex... I'll go see what the problem is." Sam said softly. Alex nodded and moved away from her while Sam stood up and walked toward the door. She made her way back to the main cockpit, where Clover was standing with the periscope sight in front of her. Out the front window Sam could see more miles of water, with no land in sight.  
  
"What's going on?" Sam asked.  
  
"Are you sure those pheromone things can't be... ummm 'sensed' or whatever from above the water?" Clover asked.  
  
"They shouldn't. Why?"  
  
"Because we're being followed." Clover told her.  
  
"What!?" Sam rushed up and pushed her aside, looking through the periscope. Sure enough, hovering above the water was a Zardexian ship like the one that they'd seen in Washington. It was pacing them perfectly, hovering so close to the water that it left ripples in its wake. "Damnit... how long has it been up there?"  
  
"I don't know exactly. I decided to look around and called you the second I noticed it." Clover said. "Do you think it senses Alex?" Sam thought about it for a moment, then shook her head.  
  
"No. This isn't the radar and sonar shielded Leviathan we used before. They probably saw the ship and decided to investigate." Sam replied.  
  
"That would explain why they're not attacking." Clover realized. "How long do you think it'll be before they either leave or vaporize our asses?"  
  
"I'd rather not find out. Clover, man the lasers."  
  
Clover grinned. "Yes ma'am!" Clover took the co-pilots seat and rolled over to the laser controls, turning them on with the flick of a switch. The lasers powered up with a soft humming sound. "Yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about."  
  
"We get one shot at this. If they send out an SOS, we're screwed." Sam told her.  
  
"Just tell me where to fire." Clover replied. Sam bit her lip, staring at the ship. "Sam?"  
  
"I don't know where the cockpit is... but reasonably, it'd be near the front of the ship..." Sam mused. "If we hit the engines, they could still call for help before they hit the water..."  
  
"I think they're starting to notice our lasers heating up." Clover said as the image on her targeting screen began to waver.  
  
Sam examined the ship for a few more seconds before spotting a small bubble near the middle of the ship. Very slight, but the only thing that stood out other than the engines on the sleek looking vessel. "The dead center of the ship. 80 degrees from the front vertically, 10 degrees horizontally to the right. Fire, now!"  
  
Clover's fingers rushed over the control panel, aligning the lasers within a second and sending a burst of brilliant blue light surging through the water. The liquid bubbled and hissed from the heat as it burst out into the open air, breaking straight through the dead center of the enemy ship. For a moment, the ship stayed in the air, but suddenly it plunged into the water with a humungous splash... right down on top of the Leviathan.  
  
"Aw sh-" Sam didn't have time to finish the exclamation before the ship impaled itself on the demon's horns, effectively crippling any firepower advantage they might have had over an opponent. As well as making them stick out even more to any other Zardexian ships in the area. The impact shook the head violently, sending both Sam and Clover to the floor.  
  
"Aww man..." Sam sat up, rubbing her back. "Well, we're safe for the time being... but now we can't fire our lasers. We have to find a place to get out of the water and get this ship off our heads. Especially if they have tracking devices in their ships." She grumbled.  
  
"Hey... you don't think Zardexians can breathe underwater do you?" Clover asked. As if on cue the limp form of an alien ball floated down in front of the window, falling unmoving down into the depths of the ocean.  
  
"Uh... I'd call that a no." Sam smirked.  
  
"Whew." Clover sighed in relief. Both women looked at the door to the cockpit when Alex burst through on her crutches. Her eyes were still red, and her limbs were shaking in fear and weakness, but she had a wide, frantic look in her eyes.  
  
"What's going on!?" Alex demanded.  
  
"It's okay Alex, we just shot down a peeping tom." Clover told her with a slight smirk. "Now we have to get out and get his blood off our boat." Sam rolled her eyes. It was an unnecessarily crude metaphor, but fairly accurate. So she scanned the ocean for the nearest land.  
  
"Looks like the closest land at the moment is Ireland." Sam stated. "So let's get going." She turned the massive ship toward the island and leaned back to wait for their arrival. Alex rejoined her friends in the cockpit, looking calmer than she had in the bedroom. They talked companionably about years past. Not the Hellish recent ones, but the... still fairly Hellish spy moments in their High School years.  
  
They reached Ireland and the massive metallic spider-demon climbed out onto the land, parking next to a dense forest in the middle of the night with the moon high in the sky, lighting the world as it always did. Sam lowered the Leviathan down to its stomach and turned it off. "Okay, let's go survey the damage." Sam stated. The three girls exited the leviathan through a door on the front of the abdomen, turning to look up at the head. The Leviathan dwarfed the Zardexian ship, which was only a quarter as large as the mammoth war machine. It looked like it was fastened pretty well to the horns.  
  
"Any ideas Sammy?" Clover asked.  
  
"Maybe we could scrape it off like a wad of gum or..." Sam mused.  
  
"That's scientific." Clover quipped.  
  
"Oh shut up." Sam smirked.  
  
"Whatever... you girls work it out... I need to sit down..." Alex hobbled away from the Leviathan with her crutches and carefully sat down on the grass, lying back and panting slightly from just the exertion of exiting the Leviathan. The blood-loss from her wound must have still been taking its toll on her. Though it was a long time to remain so weak...  
  
"Clover, stay with Alex while I see if I can get that ship off of ours." Sam said. Clover nodded and turned to join Alex on the grass while Sam walked back into the Leviathan and took the elevator up to the cockpit. She sat down in the pilot's seat and strapped herself in securely, taking the controls. "Hmmm..." She tapped a few buttons. The lasers would still power up, though they wouldn't fire. "Maybe an energy pulse..." Sam took out her communicator. "Clover."  
  
"Here Sam. Something wrong?" Clover asked.  
  
"You and Alex had better cover your ears." Sam told her. The powered up the lasers until they were vibrating, then suddenly pressed the emergency shut-off, cutting off the laser energy from the main beast. The power dissipated outward from the horns, ripping the Zardexian ship into pieces and sending it plummeting to the ground.  
  
"Mission accomplished I think." Clover called on the communicator.  
  
"Is it wrong that that was really satisfying?" Sam asked.  
  
"Naaahhhh." Clover replied. "Hang on a sec, me and Alex will come back up."  
  
"Wait, I'll come down. I wanna take a look at the wreckage." Sam replied.  
  
"Sure thing." Clover sent back. So Sam climbed up from her seat and took the elevator back down to ground level, walking out of the Leviathan. She found Alex and Clover hanging out near one of the larger pieces, where Alex was poking one the fleshy masses that used to be a Zardexian with one of her crutches. The body bent inward with a wet sound.  
  
"Ewe... they're all bloated and squishy..." Alex moved away from the body quickly in horror.  
  
"They DROWNED Alex, and spent over two hours submerged. What did you expect?" Sam asked as she walked up as well, more interested in the ship piece than the aliens that had occupied it. She poked through the pieces of the ship, looking for anything that looked like an intact component.  
  
"Hello, what have we here?" Clover asked rhetorically from another of the larger pieces. Sam looked to see Clover examining what looked like a floor with some strange markings on it. There was a ring of glass around the markings, like a tube, but of course the glass had shattered and was laying randomly about the field. "What do you think Sam?"  
  
"I'd say a prison cell if it wasn't made of glass. Can you find the top to it anywhere?" Sam asked. They scoured the field for anything that looked like the top of the tube. Alex meanwhile was leaning against the outer shell of the Leviathan, sitting on the grass and looking up at the brightening dawn sky.  
  
"Girls, I'm gonna go inside and have a bite to eat." Alex called to the two scavengers.  
  
"Sure, we'll be up in a minute." Sam replied. Alex went inside while Sam and Clover resumed their search until finally...  
  
"Aha, found it!" Clover called, grabbing one of the materials and flipping it to its back to reveal an indent the same size and pattern as the lower part of the tube. There were more markings on it, and two holes with wires sticking out. Perhaps where mechanical arms had operated once. "Looks like a holding cell... maybe this is where the arms held people." Clover suggested, pointing to the holes in the ceiling.  
  
"No... no it isn't..." Sam muttered in awe, staring at some of the symbols. One of them was clearly recognizable, though very different from the ones they were used to on Earth. A DNA strand. "Clover, I think it's a genetic reconstruction machine. Like the one that let The Rev infiltrate Earth in the first place." Sam said.  
  
"What... these things are standard issue?" Clover asked alarmed.  
  
"It looks that way... and with it, they can look completely human..." Sam confirmed. They both stared at the top of the machine that could make their lives very, very complicated from this point onward. The Rev had looked and acted fairly human... though there were some traits missing from him. Like compassion for one, and good sense for another.  
  
"Come on, we need to get back into the ocean. We've let Alex stay up here exposed to the air too long." Sam stood up straight. Clover followed her back to the Leviathan silently to resume their underwater trek to France. Things just kept getting worse and worse it seemed... where was the light shining through the darkness that storybooks always talked about?  
  
Sam wasn't comfortable again until the massive Leviathan again sank beneath the waves, a giant one hundred foot robot vanishing without a trace. Sam looked down in surprise when the communicator on her belt started beeping quite loudly. Clover and Alex looked at her curiously.  
  
"Sounds like we have a call from home base. Excuse me while I take this." Sam stood up and walked into the back, ducking into her bedroom and locking it before opening her communicator. "Sam here."  
  
"Sam, we have some news about the venom Alex was injected with." Pam stated. "You were right, it IS kind of a biological beacon. But it's also a powerful sedative." Sam stared at her, then sighed.  
  
"How... how powerful?" Sam asked nervously.  
  
"It starts off pretty weak, causing minor weakness and relaxing the victim's muscles. But it gets stronger at an exponential rate... until it becomes fatal..." Pam trailed off.  
  
Sam stared at her blankly, her heart sinking deep inside her chest. She tried not to let it show as she spoke again. "Th... thanks... we have some new information too." Sam stated. "It looks like the Zardexians have their genetic alteration technology on board every ship in their fleet." She stated.  
  
"How could you possibly know that?" Pam asked in awe.  
  
"We shot one down with the Leviathan." Sam smirked. "Don't get excited, it was a fluke I'm sure won't be repeated. The point is, be careful about any strangers bearing gifts."  
  
"I... I understand." Pam nodded. She hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Sam, why did you have to go with them? Why did you have to stick me with this Hellish job?"  
  
"Alex needs me." Sam replied. "But I do intend to come back... once we either find a cure for Alex, or it passes out of her system naturally." She smirked. "God knows how long that'll be though."  
  
"Maybe." Pam smirked back. "I'll be seeing you around Sam, you take care of yourself." Despite her words, for some reason Pam didn't seem all that sincere to Sam.  
  
"We'll be fine. We're underwater almost all of the time. We're like one hundred foot ghosts." Sam stated. Pam's expression remained carefully cold and almost scarily mask-like. Sam had quit her position pretty much right when the war had properly started. Was it going so badly as to drain her spirit in just one week? "The same goes for you. Be careful... fight the good fight... and give 'em Hell."  
  
"Why ask me to do something you know is impossible?" Pam asked. Silence passed between them like an uncomfortable specter until Sam nodded slightly.  
  
"Sorry... I've got to go." Sam said just before cutting communication. She knew she'd left Pam in a pretty much hopeless situation... and Alex was in a similarly hopeless one... but she just didn't want to think about it. She put away her communicator and turned to walk back out to the cockpit and join her spy partners. The war would continue without them, and they would have to be extra careful from now on. She could only hope Pam was wrong about the venom being fatal... though in her heart she knew she wasn't.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	5. War Journal 2

Part 04: War Journal 2  
  
February 8th 2013  
  
What...? Is it true? Is what Sam said true? The Zardexians have an entire fleet full of Genetic Alteration Machines? That means they can look completely human... they can infiltrate any base... how are we supposed to watch out for that? Can they look like existing humans...? Can they REPLACE humans? Just one Zardexian crippled the entire Earth with this technology, what could they do if they sent an imposter into each resistance cell to stir up trouble...?  
  
Okay, calm down. Think about this rationally. Has anybody in the base left and returned alone? No... no I don't think so. Has anybody been acting strange? Well... yes. Yes they have. Crimson and Alice have been acting so aloof. I thought I was the one who'd changed, but what if it was them? What if they've been replaced or something? They're my best friends... I'd have realized the switch... right?  
  
Still, I'd better check to be sure. I don't know how quickly they can change themselves to look like other people, or how completely they can mimic the behavior of a specific human. I'll talk to them, ask them questions only they would know the answers to until there's no chance that they're really aliens in disguise. Yes, corner them and make them talk to me.  
  
I won't let those alien bastards use the same trick twice. If there are any lurking in this base, I will cut their throats out with my own hands.  
  
General Pamela Reynolds  
  
February 9th 2013  
  
I talked to Crimson and Alice today. They tried to run again, but I ordered them to sit down and talk to me so I could question them. They kept giving me these strange looks... what is their problem? Do they think I'm crazy or something? No, I'm being cautious. As a good leader should be. Of course, that they avoided some of my questions with exclamations about having duties to attend to is very suspicious.  
  
Still, they answered most of my questions correctly... but we're talking about a genetic copy here. Could the Zardexian have taken their memories as well? They could still be traitorous alien bastards... but how do I determine the truth for sure? I know... Doctor Richard Lawrence has been studying the Zardexian body for the last week and a half, he knows more about them than anybody. Maybe I can have him examine them.  
  
Yes, that's it. He'll be able to tell me for sure whether they're really human.  
  
General Pam Reynolds  
  
February 10th 2013  
  
Crimson and Alice objected to the medical tests, saying something about paranoia. But I put them in custody... as any good leader with her followers in mind would do. Dr. Lawrence is still running his tests on them down in his lab. I have got to give that man a medal or something, his dedication and work for this base has been unparalleled.  
  
We received another distress call today, this one from Beijing. They sounded desperate... but I know I heard something in that voice that sounded off. It was almost a growl... inhuman, waiting for us to come. I told the troops to ignore it and go about their business, arming ourselves for the coming invasion. I'm through hiding. I want to stop these things from replacing my best friends. If they haven't already...  
  
Oohhh you crafty bastards think you're really smart don't you alien scum? You might've already infiltrated every other human resistance cell... but you're not touching this one. We're onto all of your Marking and replacing tricks you Goddamned demons.  
  
You'll fool me when I'm six feet under.  
  
General Pam Reynolds  
  
February 11th 2013  
  
Dr. Lawrence's tests showed that their DNA was 100 human... but of course they would. We're talking about genetic alteration here. That meant they would have human DNA. But I figured out a way to determine the complete truth. I don't think Alice and Crimson liked it, but they'll forgive me later when I tell them all that's been going on.  
  
The Rev had revealed himself when inflicted with wounds that would be mortal to a human...  
  
So I shot them both in the chest.  
  
They bled red, human blood. I'm so happy, they really are still my best friends. They're recuperating down in the medical wing. I'll be able to trust them again once they recover.  
  
Dr. Lawrence expressed dissatisfaction with my method, as did several other people in the base. Bah to them, they don't realize the extent of the danger here. That's why I'm the leader... I can see the true dangers where they don't. I'm perceptive.  
  
So I sent them back to stocking up for our rush against one of the alien vessels. If we can get a hold of that alien technology we may be able to find a way to detect them without resorting to such extreme measures. I know they'll see my reasoning in the end.  
  
General Pam Reynolds  
  
February 12th 2013  
  
Alice and Crimson are fine, why is everybody around here up in arms? They're recovering steadily in the infirmary. I know I said before that I wanted to be taken from this post, but that was before I knew the full extent of the alien menace. They NEED me. They can't get rid of me, they're too naïve to see the dangers right in front of them.  
  
I've tried to explain the dangers that this Zardexian technology could pose to our survival. I think I convinced some of them to listen to reason, but others are still trying to rally against me. Damnit, why can't they see the obviousness of the threat? It's right in front of them!  
  
Dr. Lawrence cornered me in the mess hall today, trying to tell me not to test anyone else like that anymore. Why wouldn't he want to know the truth about whether someone's an alien or not? There can only be one kind of person who doesn't want the truth to be known.  
  
Someone with something to hide.  
  
I'll deal with him tomorrow morning... he's too close to our operations to risk him being replaced by an alien imposter. And our operations will be proceeding soon. We've already picked up a Zardexian vessel on our radar screens. If weather conditions remain stable, we'll be able to storm them tomorrow. We have a nice stockpile of automatic rifles, RPG's and mortar rounds. We'll blow these bastards a new one...  
  
If they have an old one. I really don't know. Don't care either.  
  
General Reynolds  
  
February 14th 2013  
  
Man, the shit is flying now. When I confronted Dr. Lawrence with my suspicions he accused me of being paranoid and needing help. That's a laugh. I'm the one helping everyone else. He was the one who was trying to kill us all. Ignorance is as deadly as a venom-covered tentacle. And despite his intelligence, he proved to me that morning that he was either very ignorant, or an imposter.  
  
Test proved negative on the imposter theory.  
  
Thankfully I was able to hide his body before anyone else found it. He wouldn't have been able to help us anymore anyway. He was too ignorant of real-life dangers. He would only hinder Earth's defense, so it wasn't too much of a loss.  
  
The raid on the Zardexian ship went off as planned. RPG's rebounded off of the hull of the ship, but the mortars put some solid dents in it. Then the aliens emerged and attacked us head on. Predictable as ever. RPG's and Automatic Rifles made some decent dents, and I think we were on the verge of winning when one of my senior officers called a retreat without my order.  
  
On returning to base, he was promptly tested. Only an alien would want to save his brethren with that kind of betrayal.  
  
Test proved negative again. Perhaps they've refined their genetic alteration methods so that they don't reveal their true forms at death? That would only make it harder to detect them. I've called for preparations for a second strike against the same vessel to be made tomorrow at dawn. We will get our hands on their genetic alteration technology.  
  
I'll show them the real danger it poses to us. And they'll thank me for saving them...  
  
Maybe they'll even worship me?  
  
General Reynolds  
  
February 15th 2013  
  
Alice and Crimson recovered enough to be up and about this morning before the strike on the Zardexian vessel. I invited them to have breakfast with me, I was so happy to see them. It was so wonderful being back with them again, and knowing that they weren't alien imposters. It seems like they're the only people I can trust now.  
  
They spoke against the plan to attack the vessel, but I can understand that. They were never quite as brave as me. They relied on me quite a bit back in our spy days. I assured them it was okay and led a squad out to find the vessel. We attacked with all our firepower, and we managed to bring their ship crashing to the ground.  
  
But then the damn Zardexians poured out of it like balls out of a beanbag chair. I don't know where my 'troops' were aiming, but it must not have been at the aliens because they were slaughtered like so many pigs in a doghouse. They weren't even worth signaling the retreat for. Such incompetent troops would only put the rest of us in danger.  
  
Besides, there are still plenty of smart troops here at my base to help put my plans into action. We're going back again tomorrow. This time with more mortars, those seem to do the most damage to the slimy little balls of puke. We'll put them in their place. I'll hold up the new Earth flag over their smoldering corpses...  
  
Now I just need to think of a new Earth flag. Hmmm...  
  
General Reynolds  
  
February 18th 2013  
  
Those slimy traitors. I thought I could trust Alice and Crimson, but it looks like they've been replaced after all. I heard them in the cafeteria plotting against me. They won't get away with this... none of them will. I will not let them destroy the human race... I swore long ago to protect the world from all dangers when I was inducted into WOOHP, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it down now.  
  
Now I just need toeowhgihqert0934ugwi569 baeydv uwwlp0ko. 


	6. Saviors From the Stars

Part 05: Saviors From the Stars  
  
The Leviathan floated onward deep inside the Atlantic Ocean. Toward where, Alex didn't really care anymore. Sam and Clover seemed determined to drag her all across the entire planet, and they had been since leaving London almost three weeks ago. The wound on her leg didn't seem to be healing very well, despite the quick surgery that had helped close the wound before leaving London. Even stranger, her muscles felt like they were getting weaker by the day. Before her arms quivered if she stood too long... now it seemed like all of her limbs shook constantly.  
  
"I'm getting sick of sitting in this walking metal deathtrap..." Alex grumbled, looking around at the all too familiar steel walls that had been her almost constant home for the last three weeks. "I don't even know why we're out here. I know I'm not a hundred percent, but shouldn't we still be trying to help the war effort or something?"  
  
"Chill out Alex, nothing's happening in the war right now. We're fine." Clover replied from the co-pilot's seat. Alex didn't trust it... there was something in her voice, something hidden. Why wouldn't they tell her what was really going on? She wasn't a crybaby anymore, she was a grown woman damnit. A soldier. She'd seen as much action and bloodshed as either of them.  
  
"Yeah, just relax and try to enjoy yourself." Sam agreed, looking back at her with a soft smile. "We can go anywhere you want to. Is there anywhere you've always wanted to go?"  
  
"I'm DONE relaxing!" Alex shouted more vehemently than she'd intended as she jumped up to a standing position. She leaned heavily against her crutches, shaking in both weakness and rage as she glared down at her two stunned friends. "I want to help fight! Mandy gave her life to beat one of these things... if I have to give mine to help beat the rest, then I wanna do it!"  
  
"Alex, calm down..." Sam began.  
  
"No! I want off this thing!" Alex shot back sharply. "I haven't even seen the sun in weeks! We only surface at night, and then only for an hour or two! It's like you think I'm too much of a baby to face the Zardexians!"  
  
"No, it's nothing like..." Clover was interrupted this time.  
  
"Enough!" Alex shuddered in rage, but her already weak muscles lost hold of the crutches. She collapsed to the floor face first with a heavy thump, yelping in pain as her wounded leg connected with the panel.  
  
"Alex!" Sam and Clover jumped to their feet and moved to help her, but Alex pushed them both away, prying herself carefully off the floor.  
  
"No! I can do it!" Alex snapped. She reached for her crutches and grabbed them, trying to use them to climb to her feet. It took her several minutes of grunting and struggling. She could see Sam and Clover watching her, tears coming to their eyes as they watched her jelly-like muscles try to work. Finally she climbed to her feet, panting and leaning heavily on her crutches.  
  
Without a word Alex turned to head into the back, toward the bedroom she'd claimed as her own. She plopped down on her bed on her stomach, burying her face in her pillow. They didn't trust her... they were keeping something from her. Why were they babying her like this? And why were her limbs getting so weak? What was happening to her...?  
  
She lay on the bed, her eyes suddenly feeling kind of heavy. She was pretty tired... her display in the cockpit had taken its toll on her. She felt her eyelids closing of their own accord, beginning to lull her into a light sleep. The soft waving of the ship under the water suddenly gave way to the tremor-inducing stomp of the Leviathan's limbs on solid ground. It barely registered though, she was too tired to care...  
  
Her eyes opened halfway when the door to her bedroom opened. She saw Sam and Clover standing in the door, looking at her. "What's going on...?" Alex asked softly.  
  
"Come on... we're going out." Sam told her softly.  
  
"Okay... let me..." Alex reached for her crutches, but was stopped by Sam and Clover grabbing her arms. They each slung one of her arms over their shoulders, hefting her up off the bed. Alex moved her good leg against the floor as they carried her out of the bedroom and toward the elevator that would carry them down to ground level.  
  
Alex squinted painfully as the bright afternoon sunlight assaulted her eyes. She blinked and looked around as her friends carried her out of the giant steel monster. The grass on the ground was lush and green, with a dense forest surrounding them on every side except the one that contained the ocean they'd crawled out of.  
  
"It's like... there is no war..." Alex said softly, looking around at the green forest around her. "It's like there are no HUMANS..."  
  
"Yeah..." Sam said softly. She nodded at Clover and they both sat down on the lush grass, still holding Alex between them. They held her up so she could look around at the beautiful forest to her heart's content. Of course, it really didn't make her heart very content...  
  
"What's wrong with me girls...?" Alex asked softly. Sam and Clover looked down at her, since she was lying against both of them on the grass. "Tell me what's going on."  
  
Sam gulped and exchanged a glance with Clover, then looked away at the grass as she spoke. "When the Zardexian stabbed you in the leg... it pumped a toxin into your body that makes you emit special pheromones that they can sense miles away..." She hesitated, so Clover continued.  
  
"It's also a powerful sedative... more like a virus really. It makes your muscles weaker and weaker until... they stop moving..." Clover told her. Alex stared at her for a few moments, then turned to look up at the sky again. Clover and Sam watched her face, but she was careful not to show any emotion. She just stared at the soft white clouds drifting serenely overhead.  
  
"Guess I'll find out... where Mandy is huh?" Alex quipped humorlessly, not looking away form the clouds. She felt both of her friends hug her tightly from each side, holding her tightly in their arms. "Do you think she'll still be crazy? Do you think... she'll be depressed?"  
  
Sam smiled slightly. "No... I'm sure she's happy. And she'll probably be even happier when she sees you there with her." She stroked Alex's arm tenderly. Alex smiled slightly. Clover remained strangely silent, but Alex didn't notice. Her mind was already floating in an abyss of thoughts of where she would be going soon.  
  
"You think so?" Alex asked.  
  
"I know so." Sam told her. Alex nodded and gulped. This would have been the perfect place to die... in the arms of her friends and with the promise that the woman she believed she might have loved would be waiting for her. But fate, these days, was rarely so kind. All three girls stared up at the sky as a shadow emerged from the clouds, a dark, sleek ship of the kind they'd seen two times so far.  
  
"Time to go..." Sam muttered darkly. She and Clover stood up quickly, pulling Alex up with them. But suddenly a shining crimson laser fired forth from the ship, tearing into the Leviathan's steel hull. The behemoth swayed back on its hind legs as the laser punched straight through to the other side to disappear into the ocean.  
  
"Run!" Clover screamed as the massive machine began to sway dangerously forward. Sam and Clover charged across the field toward the forest as fast as they could, carrying Alex between them. The Leviathan tumbled to the ground, the massive steel frame sending up a cloud of dirt and dust that reduced visibility to absolute zero. Sam and Clover charged into the trees, weaving through them, though their progress was seriously hindered by having to carry Alex.  
  
"Put me down..." Alex told them.  
  
"Not a chance!" Clover replied quickly.  
  
"As long as you're carrying me, they can follow you." Alex reminded her. Sam and Clover came to a stop, looking at her through the thick dirt cloud that still encompassed them. "You said they can smell me miles away... as long as you drag me with you, they'll stay on your tails. So just... put me down..." Alex told them. Sam and Clover looked at each other, then sat down with her as the dirt began to settle around them. "What are you doing?"  
  
"If you're going, so are we." Sam told her.  
  
"Yeah, leaving you alone isn't even an option." Clover told her.  
  
"Girls..." Alex muttered under her breath. She might have spoken more, but the shadow of the Zardexian ship fell over them from over the trees above them. They looked up to watch the ship move toward them, looking like a ship Death himself might bring to reap a few souls. Sam and Clover huddled close to her, watching the ship descend past the top of the tree line.  
  
"I love you girls..." Alex whispered softly.  
  
"Ssshhh..." Sam replied, holding her close as the ship moved closer. The Zardexians weren't taking any chances this time. A shining crimson light began to shine from the nose of the ship, growing brighter with each passing second. Sam and Clover closed their eyes, but Alex just watched as the power built up at the edge of the ship, ready to rip through them.  
  
Suddenly a golden light broke through the clouds far overhead, plunging through the Zardexian vessel and vaporizing the trees beneath it. The ship turned off course, the energy at its nose dissipating as it plunged down toward the Earth away from them. The impact sent a tremor through the ground, with the deafening sound of crushing steel and snapping mighty oak trees.  
  
"What was that...?" Sam looked up in surprise where the golden light had come from.  
  
"Maybe it was God...?" Clover quipped humorously. As they watched a ball of shimmering golden lights broke through the clouds, hovering down toward them without any sign of an engine on its massive shining frame. Indeed, to the girls it did look heaven-sent... but they knew it wasn't. Because it also looked familiar, from a time before all of this began.  
  
"It's a giant cumquat." Alex quipped softly. Truth be told she didn't feel like she could care about it anymore. The adrenaline from being chased must have taken its toll on her, because her eyelids were growing heavier by the second. "Or... rutabaga..." She muttered softly as her eyes closed.  
  
"Alex? ALEX!" Sam and Clover shouted as a shroud of darkness engulfed Alex's senses. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't feel... but somehow, she could sense. An aura... somewhere... a violet haze that shifted in a never-ending pattern. Alex tried to move toward it... but she didn't know how. Could she even move? Where was she? WHAT was she?  
  
Suddenly images flashed in her mind... memories. She remember sitting in the van with Mandy, after the second nuclear bomb had flown right over their heads. They'd been lucky to be so far away, because it and the one before it had left most of California completely uninhabitable, either from being a smoldering crater, or being completely irradiated. They'd been scared... but they'd continued their mission in the van... a mission to find Mandy's sister... and a second mission neither had anticipated with each other...  
  
"Alex... I love you." Mandy's voice echoed in her mind, carried forth from the past. She remembered when they stopped... the kiss they'd shared, that quickly evolved into something more... when the world ceased to be a concern and they'd had nothing but each other to focus on. The feel of Mandy's body... the touch of her lips... why was this all coming back? To torture her?  
  
The memories faded when her eyes began to open to a sight that many a drunkard had witnessed before. Little green men staring down at her with bright lights shining from behind their bulbous heads. The difference was, she was pretty sure this was real. The aliens smiled down at her with as kind an expression as one could give with an alien face.  
  
"Welcome back." One of them told her in their strange, high-pitched and scratchy voices. "It looks like we arrived just in time to administer the anti-toxin." Alex blinked and reached up to rub her eyes, still feeling a bit weak. She felt like speaking, but she was interrupted by a pair of impossibly high-pitched yells.  
  
"Alex!" Sam and Clover charged into the room and engulfed her in a pair of tight hugs. "Oh man I'm so glad you made it!" Sam told her with tears running down her cheeks. "I was sure that was it..."  
  
"Alex, don't ever do that to us again." Clover agreed enthusiastically. The little green aliens watched from the sidelines, smiling idly to themselves.  
  
"You... saved me..." Alex said softly, looking at the little green men. "Thank you..." To be honest she felt like screaming. She was sure she'd felt Mandy in that darkness... but she tried to push it out of her mind. No matter how comforting it had been to feel her presence again, she was here now and with her best friends in the world.  
  
"We still owe you for saving us from GOOPER." One of the aliens replied. "We were merely returning the favor." Alex smiled gratefully, content with that, but Sam looked curious as she wiped the tears of joy away from her cheeks.  
  
"You had an antidote to their toxin... have you met the Zardexians before?" Sam asked.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes." One of the aliens replied again. "Many centuries ago they laid siege to OUR world as they have now attacked yours. They infiltrated our society with a forerunner at first, then when they'd weakened our defenses, moved in for the kill."  
  
"But we were able to capture some of their technology and turn it against them, resulting in a stalemate that lasted for centuries." Another alien finished. "Finally, we fought them off... and they must have found their way to your world upon giving up on ours." The three spies were stunned at this news.  
  
"You BEAT them!?" Clover exclaimed. "You actually beat them off!?"  
  
"That's great!" Alex shouted. "We're saved!" Clover and Alex hugged each other in celebration, but one of the aliens held up his hand to halt their celebration.  
  
"We cannot fight your war for you..." The alien said apologetically. "And we didn't beat them... we simply held them at a stalemate until they gave up. It would take more power than we have in all our technology to truly defeat them all."  
  
"What are you talking about? You kicked their ass down there!" Clover exclaimed.  
  
"That was just a small vessel, a scout to see how you well respond to force. The main fleet hasn't arrived yet." The aliens told them. Sam, Alex and Clover exchanged steady glances, gulping. "We cannot defeat their main fighters... but we are here to help you. We can transport you and as many of your species as we can fit through space to our home world many light years away. Its environment is almost identical to Earth's." He offered.  
  
Before either of the others could respond, Sam cut in. "And how did you know they were attacking us if your home is so far away? Were you just in the neighborhood?" She asked curiously. The aliens turned to stare at her in unison, while Alex and Clover looked at her in surprise.  
  
"Sam, what's with the accusing tone?" Clover asked. "They just saved our butts."  
  
"Yeah Sam, way to show your gratitude." Alex added.  
  
"Yeah... sorry. I guess the years of fighting have just made me too suspicious." Sam nodded apologetically to their saviors, putting one hand to her forehead.  
  
"Completely understandable." One of the aliens replied. "What do you say to our offer?" He asked. Alex and Clover both looked at Sam, who was staring at the aliens with a studying gaze. The aliens stared back coolly, with genuine seeming concern in their eyes. Finally Sam closed her eyes and put one hand to her chin.  
  
"This isn't really a decision we can make for the rest of the human race." Sam answered finally. "We should get back to the Greenland Second Base to consult with Pam and the others."  
  
The aliens nodded. "You can rest while we make our way there. There are refreshments and beds in the next room." He gestured as the wall opened, revealing one huge bed and several platters full of delicious looking food ranging from oatmeal to succulent looking steaks. "Please, make yourselves at home." He nodded and turned to leave with his companions, the door closing behind them.  
  
"Don't mind if we do." Clover grinned, pulling one of Alex's arms around her shoulders to help her over to the table since her crutches were missing. "Come on Alex, it's time to celebrate your new life with an old treat. I haven't had a nice steak since... man, at LEAST ten years ago." She helped Alex sit down in one of the chairs, then sat down in one of her own, pulling a steak up in front of her.  
  
Alex dug into a plate of mashed potatoes and corn, savoring its taste in her mouth. "Mmm... this is great!" Alex exclaimed digging in and shoveling more into her mouth until she noticed Sam was still standing in the other room, staring at the door suspiciously. "Sam? Are you still being totally paranoid about the people who saved us?" She asked.  
  
"Sam, calm down, get in here and have some sushi or something. It might be the last time we ever get food like this." Clover told her.  
  
"I've got a riddle for you girls." Sam finally followed Clover and Alex into the dining room/bedroom. "How do a bunch of aliens who supposedly haven't been around since the early zeros know what I'm talking about when I mention a military base that wasn't built until 2007?" Clover and Alex stopped eating to stare at her in surprise when they realized she was right.  
  
"Do you... do you think they're working with the Zardexians or something?" Alex asked.  
  
"If they're in league with the Zardexians, they're sure going to great lengths to prove they're not. We SAW them shoot down one of the Zardexian ships." Clover pointed out. "And they even cured Alex, why would they bother if they were plotting to betray us in the end anyway?"  
  
"That's a good point..." Sam mused. "But even if they're not in league with the Zardexians, there's got to be more to their presence here than they're letting on. Didn't you notice how they froze when I asked why they just happened to be in the neighborhood?" The three girls fell silent, trying to think of a suitable explanation for the mysteries surrounding their old green friends.  
  
Finally Clover spoke, waving a fried chicken leg in front of her. "Well whatever their reason for being here, they've done nothing but help us. Why are we questioning them like this? They're feeding us, giving us a comfortable bed, saving Alex's life, and they're offering to get us off of this doomed dustball of a planet. So they have their own reasons for being here, so what? We ALL have our own reasons for being here. None of us is here just to 'fight for right'. We're fighting to survive."  
  
"I agree with Clover." Alex stated. "What do we have to lose by trusting them? Whether they're lying or not, we'd be dead by now without them anyway." She stated. Sam studied them for a few moments, then smiled.  
  
"You're right girls..." Sam looked down when her stomach started growling quite loudly. She blushed while Alex and Clover gave her teasing smiles. "Alright alright, make room at the table." Her friends scooted aside so she could sit down and fix herself a plate of the most delectable food she'd seen since the Imperium of Christ had first taken over.  
  
They ate their fill with light companionable chatter filling the air. It wasn't hard to imagine they were back on the WOOHP jet in the old days, contemplating the current mission they were being ferried toward. When they'd eaten their fill fifteen minutes later they all retired to a huge bed on the other side of the room, lying side by side on top of the blankets, staring at the ceiling.  
  
"How're you feeling Alex?" Clover asked.  
  
"Still a little woozy... and like I'm about to barf, but I don't think that's toxin-related." Alex smiled slightly. Clover smiled back and leaned back on the bed again, letting out a deep sigh of contentment. In just a few minutes the girls rolled closer together so that they were in a small pile, with Sam and Clover both lying against Alex.  
  
Alex didn't mind... she liked the closeness. She just wished Mandy were here... she was missing her deeply... but she couldn't afford to. Mandy was gone, there was no changing that now. Enough of stupid thoughts and childish flights of fantasy. Reality was nightmarish enough.  
  
All three girls lifted their heads a while later when the door of their small bedroom opened again. "We have arrived at the base." One of the aliens told them. Sam and Clover climbed up from the bed and turned to help Alex, but the alien walked forward and held out what looked like a pair of high-tech crutches. "To help you move."  
  
"Wow, thank you." Alex took the crutches and stood up. They worked like normal, but it seemed like they had special shock absorbers near the bottom that both adjusted to her height and helped prevent her from bruising her underarms as she walked. It was a small example of alien technology, but impressive to her nonetheless.  
  
The spies turned to follow the little alien out of the bedroom once Alex was ready. "You know, it occurred to me that we don't really know anything about you. Not even your names." Sam told the small alien as they walked.  
  
"We are Argathins from the planet Argath." The small alien replied. "My name is Ay-Leex." The alien told them. Alex blinked. It was still downright creepy really. Last time they were here they revealed their spy supervisor Jay-Ri.  
  
"Hey... you wouldn't happen to be a girl would you?" Alex asked. Ay-Leex, Sam and Clover all turned to stare at her, causing an intense blush to spread across her face. "I mean... uh... aaahhahah..." She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry..."  
  
Ay-Leex gestured for them to follow him into the bridge of the ship, where they walked up to a screen on the front that showed an image of the Greenland military base. "The base you wanted to come to is down below... but we're at a loss as to why you would want to come here." He told them. The spies blinked at him, then turned to really get a good look at the screen. Flecks of red dotted the snow in front of the base, and bullet holes decorated the outside.  
  
"No..." Sam muttered. "They must've been attacked... Ay-Leex, can we go down and see what happened?"  
  
"Of course. But we cannot stay too long. Our ships are not designed to stand the cold." The little alien nodded to one of his/her companions, who brought the ship down to a soft landing on the snow. Ay-Leex led them through the ship to a door, taking them out toward the base. Sam ran up to the door of the base, looking around at it.  
  
"That's strange... there's no sign of forced entry." Sam noted.  
  
"Maybe they were caught off guard." Clover replied. Sam turned to head inside, with Clover, Alex, and Ay-Leex trailing behind. They all stopped when they entered the front hallway. Bodies littered the hallway, riddled with bullet-holes rather than showing any signs of a Zardexian attack. Further inside they found just more of the same.  
  
"This was all done by humans..." Sam whispered, as though a loud sound might awaken the dead to eat them alive. "No sign of any Zardexians at all."  
  
"Maybe it was Zardexians disguised as humans?" Clover replied.  
  
"Why would they bother? It's not like we have any weapons that can fight them anyway." Sam sighed. Alex turned away from the grizzly scenes, but only found more equally grizzly ones behind her.  
  
"I need to get outta here... ate too much food for this..." Alex turned to hobble her away out of the main chamber, finding a relatively clean hallway beyond that led to the barracks. It was a major relief to her stomach, so she moved a little further down before leaning against the steel wall and closing her eyes. This was all they needed, a war with both aliens AND crazy people.  
  
Alex opened her eyes when she heard a soft whispering vibrate through the steel wall. She couldn't make out what it was saying, but she managed to track it to a small weapons' closet further down the hall. The whispering seemed to get louder when she stepped in front of the door.  
  
"H... hello?" Alex asked, rapping her knuckles lightly on the door. The whispering grew more frantic and harried. "Hey, I'm not here to hurt you, I promise..." Alex slowly gripped the doorknob. "I'm coming in..." She pulled the door open slowly. The barrel of a 45-millimeter handgun was pointed straight at her head, but beyond it she saw a familiar face. "Kira?"  
  
The girl Alex had saved during the opening battle of the war blinked, staring at her through tear-streaked eyes. Her forearms and the front of her military fatigues were spotted with dried blood. Her eyes showed that she hadn't slept at all, perhaps for a few days. And her shaking limbs betrayed her malnourishment. "G... get away from me... I don't wanna fight..." She gulped frantically.  
  
"Hey... it's me, Alex." Alex held up her arms, standing on one foot and letting her crutches fall to the floor. She didn't move for several minutes, letting the girl slowly recognize her.  
  
Finally she lowered the gun before dropping it to the floor. "A... Alex!?" She charged forward and engulfed her in a tight hug. "Alex!" She sobbed into her shoulder lightly as Alex held her close.  
  
"Kira... what happened here? Who attacked you?" Alex asked.  
  
"G... General Reynolds... she... she went insane." Kira gulped frantically. "She kept... ranting and raving about human-shaped aliens... she led so many people to die... she KILLED so many..." By now the girl was getting frantic, so Alex stroked her back slowly.  
  
"Ssshhhh... try to calm down." Alex told her softly. Kira gulped and nodded shakily.  
  
"F... Finally th... they tried to mutiny and take the base from her... b... but she had a following... there was a gunfight..." She dissolved into hysteria again, so Alex stopped prompting her to talk and just held her. She looked to the side when she heard Sam's footsteps coming down the hall toward them.  
  
"Pam..." Alex was cut off.  
  
"I know, I was listening." Sam replied. "Take her to the Argathin ship while me, Clover and Ay-Leex conduct a sweep for more survivors... and maybe we can see who came out on top." Sam leaned down to pick up Alex's crutches for her. Alex nodded and took her crutches. It was hard to move with them while Kira remained up against her, but she wasn't about to push the girl away. She remembered the first time she'd been caught in battle...  
  
She still hadn't fully recovered from that shock. But she lived, as they would hopefully for a while to come.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	7. City of Dead Dreams

Part 06: City of Dead Dreams  
  
The helicopters flew forth, bringing with them the troops that remained loyal to General Reynolds after the rebellion at Second Base in Greenland. She'd known there were alien spies hiding there, but she hadn't anticipated just how many there would be. But it didn't matter; even a dirty stinking sneak attack by the women she thought were her best friends wouldn't bring her to her knees. Earth would never fall to these bastards.  
  
"General, we're within ten miles of our destination." One of her Lieutenants informed her from the cockpit.  
  
"Good." Pam called back. The helicopters passed rapidly over the largely abandoned lands of the former Soviet Union, on their way to one of the most infamous sites of the entire war against the Imperium. Dwarfed in size and scope only by the nuclear strikes in North America, and the death of the Reverend himself.  
  
Moscow had become both a graveyard and a holy site. The bodies of those slain in the last massacre of the war still littered the hallowed streets. The lucky ones were those whose brains had hemorrhaged from the sheer force of the sound waves. The unlucky ones survived to be hunted and slain like dogs, often cut apart by Imperial blades or shot many times before they finally stopped moving.  
  
No sane person dared approach this place. Yet it was a holy site to those zealots who, despite everything, still believed in the teachings of the Imperium. The Reverend hadn't been stupid. He'd controlled through both fear and faith, and it was those faithful who gathered here to honor what they considered to be the holiest site on Earth.  
  
Where God had given the faithful the power to cleanse the Earth of sinners.  
  
As they passed overhead, she could see them below. Most of them were praying, though others took time off to eat or attend to other daily chores. They stepped right over the bodies of the dead like they weren't even there. They were a disgrace to humanity. If they even were human.  
  
"Contact all units to land here." Pam called up to the cabin.  
  
"Roger!" The pilot called back as he brought the helicopter to a stop. The other copters lowered beside it, while the crowd below began to gather to see what was going on. When Pam opened the door of her copter and stepped out one of the larger men stepped forward. He had a crucifix tattooed onto its forehead, with the bottom ending right above his nose.  
  
"What are you doing intruding on the cleansed lands of our Lord?" The man demanded threateningly.  
  
"Finishing the cleansing..." Pam retorted slyly. The man let out a barking laugh, followed soon by the rest of the group gathered around him.  
  
"I believe that sounds like a threat." The mammoth man smirked.  
  
"A promise, actually." Pam replied. The man puffed himself up as much as he could, sticking out his barrel chest. Obviously he didn't believe his Lord was strong enough to fight his own battles, because it looked like he was pumping a lot of iron in His service.  
  
"You can't hurt us, sinner. We're protected by the might of God." He told her confidently.  
  
"Are you now?" Pam asked. Within a second she had her revolver up in front of her, and just a millisecond later light flashed from the muzzle with a thunderous bang. The crowd jumped back in shock as the massive man's head was thrown back. He remained on his feet for a moment as blood ran down his face from the center of the Crucifix on his forehead.  
  
Finally he collapsed to his back on the street limply. The rest of the gathered crowd eyed her fearfully, clutching at each other and whispering prayers under their breath. Pam looked at them pitilessly. They were scared now... but that didn't make them any less monsters.  
  
"Unit 1, round up these whackos and bring them with me. Units 2, 3, and 4, get your earplugs on and start taking care of the civilian bodies in the area. I want each and every one of them given proper burials." Pam ordered. The Sensible Soundproof Earplugs were an old WOOHP gadget, one that they had an overabundance of these days. They weren't much for combat though, so they were almost useless.  
  
"Yes sir!" Every soldier gave her a swift salute before turning to tend to their duties. Most of the soldiers set about carefully gathering up the bodies of the deceased, while some rounded up the gathered zealots and turned to follow Pam as she made her way to the edge of the city. Just outside the city walls was a relic of the war that had gone untouched.  
  
The Ear Bleeder had barely been touched since the massacre. Sam had allowed them to study it to create the miniaturized, less dangerous versions. But she strictly prohibited anybody from touching or moving the machine itself. Sam feared it, despite the Sensible Soundproof Earplugs they could have used with it. But Pam knew that it could be used to fight the alien menace, it could disable their technology.  
  
"You'll never destroy the will of God!" One of the remaining zealots shouted. She was met with a chorus of cheers from the other captives. Pam smirked and gestured for the other soldiers to put their earmuffs on.  
  
"You'd follow your God to Hell and back. Would you like to see His power in action?" She asked.  
  
"We will when he smites you!" The same woman shouted. Pam slipped her own earplugs on, reaching for the lever to activate the Ear Bleeder.  
  
"Feel your God's power... and join Him in Hell." She threw the switch, turning on the devastating machine. It roared to life, unheard by Pam or her crew, but the effect on the zealots was immediate. Their faces contorted in pained screams and they fell to their knees, clutching at their ears in agony and desperation. Pam watched them writhe on the grass, desperately trying to escape the sound waves that pierced the brain like a million daggers.  
  
Pam nodded to the gathered troops, who pulled their weapons and took aim at those desperately crawling zealots that remained alive. Soon none of them moved, as their blood stained the grass in front of the most dreadful weapon yet to grace the surface of the Earth. One soldier in particular seemed to hit each and every one of them in the head, whether they were moving or not. Pam reached over to turn off the machine, then pulled off her earplugs.  
  
She watched as her soldiers followed suit. She pointed to one. "You go tell the other units they can remove their earplugs." The soldier saluted and turned to accomplish his assigned task. Pam gestured to a smaller group. "You bring the Ear Bleeder into the city. The rest of you, begin construction on a command center on this side of the city." Most of the others turned to leave, but Pam called out again. "You, with the purple hair. I want a word with you."  
  
The purple-haired woman walked up in front of her and stood at attention, putting her hand up in a stiff salute. "Yes, sir." Her strangely purple hair hung down to her lower back, and strangely she had deep violet eyes that matched it very well. From the look of her, she was probably in her early twenties, with the smoothness of her skin and the fire that lay deep in her eyes.  
  
"What's your name?" Pam asked.  
  
"Alison First, sir." The woman replied simply.  
  
"You showed a lot of spirit when I gave the order to execute them." Pam told her.  
  
"I've been waiting to get back at these bastards for a long time." Alison replied less formally.  
  
"As have we all, I suspect." Pam nodded sympathetically. Alison didn't respond, staring straight ahead as any good soldier was supposed to do. "How long have you been fighting? You seem a lot more hardened than most of the crew we have here."  
  
"Since I was fourteen." Alison replied. "Seven years now. Against the Imperium of Christ."  
  
"Do you want to kill some Zardexians now?"  
  
"Oh yes." Alison replied, her eyes hardening into a bloodlust Pam hadn't seen on anyone but the criminally insane. "And frankly sir, I don't care who or what gets in my way. I'll kill every last one of them if it means going through every human on Earth." Pam stared into her eyes, searching for a hint of doubt. She found none whatsoever.  
  
"Follow me." Pam turned to walk into the city, leaving the dead zealots rotting on the dirt where they belonged. Alison paced her obediently, walking right behind her. "I'm through watching the alien scum slowly whittle us down to nothing. I'm done looking over my shoulder for someone with a knife. I need someone I can trust for a second in command."  
  
"I'll follow you straight to the Zardexian home world if I have to." Alison told her as they walked past the other soldiers, carefully carrying the bodies of the dead outside the city where they could be buried properly. "As long as there aren't any left at the end."  
  
"That's not what I asked." Pam said softly. "I asked if I could trust you to help protect me."  
  
"If you'll help me reach my goal, I'll give my life for you." Alison told her seriously. Pam looked back at her, studying her eyes for a moment before nodding.  
  
"I believe you." Pam stopped to watch the three units set up her command center in what was once a library. Alison stood beside her, watching them ferry equipment in and out of the building. "Look at this Alison. The site of the Imperium's last victory will be the site of the beginning of the Zardexian downfall. I love poetic justice."  
  
"I like poetry as much as the next person, but do you have a plan to fight the Zardexians themselves? The Ear Bleeder can deal with their technology, but what about THEM?" Alison asked curiously.  
  
"There are no beings in existence that don't have a weakness. We just haven't been using the right weapons." Pam told her with a slight smile. "I have an idea or two we can work on, but for now we need a base of operations, and our troops need a rest once that's done." Alison nodded in agreement and they both settled back to watch the troops work.  
  
Progress was swift. They were well rested, charged with energy, and motivated to begin this new offensive instead of sitting around waiting for more bad news to trickle their way. Pam and Alison watched the troops work idly, occasionally making a round to make sure there were no slackers or traitors. The graveyard was growing steadily, but Pam wasn't about to leave all of these people lying about her new base. They deserved at least the honor of a burial.  
  
"Sir." Pam and Alison turned in unison when they heard a soldier walking up behind them. He gave them a sharp salute before speaking again. "We've readied one of the homes in the area for you to use. It's down the street on the left if you're tired."  
  
"I don't remember giving that order." Pam told him.  
  
"No... but we were finished with the burials in our quadrant, and wanted to show our appreciation of your leadership." He told her. Pam walked up to him, looking him up and down.  
  
"That's sweet... but do not disobey my orders again. Next time, come to me for further orders. Is that understood?" Pam told him.  
  
"Yes sir." The soldier looked a bit put off that his gift wasn't being accepted with open arms, but he didn't complain.  
  
"Now go tell Unit 3 to get busy converting the local school into a barracks for the troops. I'm not the only one who needs a roof over my head around here."  
  
"Yes sir!" The officer saluted again before turning to walk away from her, heading back the way he came. Pam turned back to Alison, who'd watched the exchange with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Come on, I want to survey my new quarters." Pam turned to walk down the street, with her second in command following right behind. The sun was fading down behind the horizon, but she wasn't about to go to sleep so early while her men were still busy working. She wouldn't be much of a leader if she did that... that didn't mean it wasn't tempting though.  
  
She walked inside the small hovel. It was literally just another house in a million, but she supposed that was a good thing. In the event of a sneak attack, either human or alien, they wouldn't have an easy time finding her. "Someone had some good sense on this one." She looked back at Alison to find her standing at the door. "Come in already."  
  
Alison nodded and stepped inside, looking around silently. "At ease, soldier. Relax for a few minutes. Our efforts here aren't going to collapse just because you crack a smile."  
  
"I don't have anything to smile about." Alison replied coolly.  
  
"Fair enough I suppose..." Pam sighed and moved to the kitchen, which she found stocked with rotten food and flat soda. There was still some water though, and there were even some bottles of wine underneath the sink. She pulled out the wine and set it on the counter, scouring the kitchen until she found a pair of glasses to pour it in.  
  
She poured the two glasses of wine and turned to walk back into the living room. She found Alison kneeling beside the television on the far side of the room, flipping through channels at random. Most of it was static. There was no point to keeping them running while the Earth was being ransacked by alien tentacle monsters, but she stopped when she found a channel showing old Warner Brothers cartoons.  
  
Alison left the cartoons on and stood up, turning to see Pam standing behind her. "Drink?" Pam asked. Alison nodded and silently took the drink from her. "You know, I used to watch those way back when I was a little girl."  
  
"I never had much use for them. I preferred... smarter shows." Alison replied. They both moved to sit down on the couch, watching the ancient shows and sipping the wine from their glasses absently. The silence was welcome after the events of the last few days. The battle in the Greenland base followed by the almost nonstop flight here. Sleep seemed like a memory.  
  
"General." Pam was startled out of a light doze to find her wine spilled on her lap and Alison standing over her.  
  
"Oh..." Pam yawned. "I really shouldn't have sat down." She shook her head and stood up, trying to wipe the liquid off of her pants.  
  
"Get some rest, you're no good to us like this." Alison told her. "I'll take care of everything until morning."  
  
"What kind of leader would I be if I slept while my troops were still hard at work?" Pam asked.  
  
"A well-rested one." Alison put her hands on her back and pushed her toward the bedroom. Pam struggled lightly, but Alison was surprisingly strong for her fairly small frame. She pushed the general onto the bed and grabbed the blanket, pulling it up to her chin.  
  
"Will you protect me while I sleep...?" Pam yawned again, looking up at Alison. She felt like a little girl... but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. She was far older than Alison, but for some reason she felt like the younger of them. It was a sign of the times she supposed. She didn't even remember most of the war against the Imperium of Christ, being controlled by the collar.  
  
"With my life, general." Alison told her. Pam didn't know why. This woman was as much a stranger to her as any of the troops on the base, but something about those deep violet eyes set her mind at ease. She trusted her, and it was that trust that let her slip off into dreamland. She dreamt of being with Alice and Crimson, their old spy days... only to have them turn into those hideous alien scum. They would pay for what they made her to do her best friends... they would all pay for what they'd done to the world.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	8. Into the Starlight Sea

Part 07: Into the Starlight Sea  
  
Several days had passed since they found the Greenland Base ravaged by a struggle that had nothing to do with the war. It looked like Pam had gone insane and started killing people at random. They tried to remove her from power, but she had followers, and it escalated into a bloody battle. Pam won and left with most of the equipment and all of the food, leaving the sole survivor of the tragedy behind with nothing to eat and no way to contact anyone.  
  
Alex had Kira leaning against her as they both sat in some of the chairs that were set up in front of the small stage. They'd made their way to the appropriately named Dämon-Mörder, or Demon Slayer in honor of the fight against the Imperium of Christ, Military Base in Germany, where they met up with one of the other resistance cells. They'd seemed surprised to see Sam. It seems before flying off the deep end Pam believed Sam was dead or something, and had proclaimed herself permanent WOOHP leader.  
  
Alex and Kira watched the military personnel setting up a podium on the stage, from which Sam would soon be speaking. "Are you two holding up okay?" Sam's voice asked from behind them. Alex and Kira craned their necks to look back at her.  
  
"We're doing fine Sammy. Have you figured out what you're going to say yet? Every base on Earth is going to be receiving this transmission." Alex reminded her unnecessarily.  
  
"I know exactly what I'm going to say." Sam walked up and kneeled down beside the teenage girl, giving her a comforting smile. "Are you going to go with the Argathins when they lift off?" She asked curiously.  
  
"I don't know..." Kira replied softly.  
  
"It's okay. You still have a few days left before everyone who wants to go will be able to arrive. There's no rush." Sam patted her head and pushed herself up to her full height. Kira nodded and smiled back.  
  
One of the Argathins walked up to Sam from behind. "We have ten minutes before the signal will be ready." He told her.  
  
"Alright, I'll be ready. Go ahead and start getting everyone else in here Sayman-Thah." Sam replied. The little alien nodded and turned to leave. "I guess this is about it."  
  
"Do you think many people will want to leave? I mean, it's not like we could fight if almost everyone wants to go." Alex stated.  
  
"Trust me, I've been thinking about that all day. And I have an idea or two. But look, Alex, we should talk..." Sam began. She was interrupted though when Clover walked up behind her.  
  
"So who else is ready to vacate this damned dustball eh?" Clover hugged Sam from behind, then sat down beside Alex with a grin on her face. "Personally I can't wait. I wonder what kind of fashions they wear there... oohh the suspense! I feel like a schoolgirl again!" Clover giggled girlishly. Sam and Alex stared at her blankly. It finally happened. Clover finally snapped. But at least she wasn't homicidal.  
  
"Well..." Sam began again before she was interrupted by one of the aliens from the podium.  
  
"We're broadcasting in two minutes." He said into the microphone. "Everyone please take your seats, thank you." He walked away from the stage to tend to other duties.  
  
"We'll talk later girls." Sam turned to jog over to the side of the stage to await her cue. Alex, Kira, and Clover watched her politely, with idle smiles on their faces. Sam hadn't done much leading in the time she'd been WOOHP leader, it looked like she was finally ready to step up and talk like the leader that she deserved to be.  
  
Sam waited until she received the signal that they were broadcasting before walking slowly up to the podium. Clover and a few other scattered soldiers broke into applause, but Sam blushed and waved her hand for them to stop. That of course only amplified it until her face was bright red.  
  
"Um... thank you..." Sam coughed as the applause finally died down. She looked at the camera set up in front of her, though her eyes occasionally strayed away from it. "As you all know, I've been missing for the last few weeks... and I'm sorry for that. It was necessary to protect the wonderful resistance effort that's been put up all over the world."  
  
"Recently though, we came into contact with a second extraterrestrial neighbor. They're familiar with the Zardexian threat, and the fights we now face... so they made us an offer." Sam paused to let the translators who were gathered in each base around the world catch up with her. "They'll take us out of here, to their home planet to start again without the Zardexian threat, and without the radiation and pollution that the war against the Imperium caused."  
  
"It's a generous offer, and I can't thank them enough for coming to our rescue." Sam nodded to Ay-Leex, who was sitting in the front row. The little alien smiled slightly and nodded back. "But I'm going to have to decline." A small chorus of gasps floated from around the room. Clover seemed stunned, but Alex wasn't surprised at all. Sam had told her as much shortly after the offer was made.  
  
"The land contains the bodies of those who died for us. The spirit of our people is contained in the architecture, the monuments of human strength that are scattered throughout the world. I just cannot make myself abandon all of that. All of the history that we have created here, on this planet. But that doesn't mean I came to this decision easily."  
  
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go. Didn't want to leave the wars behind, start anew on a new planet without pollution or radiation. But I simply can't make myself do it. However, nobody will think less of you if you do want to go. This isn't a decision to be reached lightly. Each of us has to decide what would be best for him or herself. You all have five days to choose, and then make your way to the Dämon-Mörder Military Base in central Germany if you want to go."  
  
"Thank you all for your loyalty to the human race, and your willingness to put your lives on the line thus far to protect our planet. And if you do choose to go, I wish you the best lives a person could possibly live." Sam put up her hand in a stiff salute. "Think long and hard about this, because we're not sure when... or if... the chance to leave will come about again." Sam finished the salute, and waited until the Argathin running the camera signaled that he'd cut the picture.  
  
The people gathered in the small auditorium climbed to their feet to applaud as Sam left the stage, walking with her back straight and a stony mask over her face. As she walked through the crowd she was met with a chorus of people proclaiming, "we'll stay with you." She ignored them, making her way to the table where Alex, Clover and Kira were now standing up.  
  
"Don't worry Sammy... I'm staying too." Clover said. Everyone looked at her in surprise. "What? A woman can't change her mind?"  
  
"Well I'm staying too." Alex stated.  
  
"I'm staying with Alex..." Kira added, clinging to Alex like a lost child. Alex put one arm around her, leaning against her other crutch heavily.  
  
"Alex, can I talk to you in private?" Sam asked.  
  
"Uh... sure, of course." Alex nodded and looked down at Kira. "I'll be right back, I promise." The girl nodded and let her go. Alex grabbed her other crutch and turned to follow Sam out of the auditorium into the cold starry night outside. "What's up Sam?"  
  
"Alex, I want you to go with them." Sam said without turning to look at her. Alex rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, I know. I'm injured and shouldn't have to fight. Look, I-" Alex was cut off.  
  
"It's not about that. I need you to go on a special mission." Sam replied. Alex cocked her head to the side and raised one eyebrow confusedly. "I asked them to at least supply us with the cure to the Zardexian toxin, but they refused. They have that, and enough firepower to give us a fighting chance... but they refuse to give any of it to us."  
  
"So... what does this have to do with me going...?" Alex asked softly.  
  
"I want you to get to their home world... and steal all the anti-toxin and weapons you can find." Sam finally turned back to her. Alex's eyes went wide.  
  
"Steal it? But they're our friends Sam, we can't steal from them." Alex complained.  
  
"It's not wrong to steal a weapon to protect your family from a murderous madman, is it?" Sam asked.  
  
"No... I guess it's not..." Alex replied softly.  
  
"Alex... we have to do everything we can to protect the Earth." Sam walked up to her and gripped her shoulders. "And you're the only human who's flown their ship before... you're the only one who can get what we need and get back here." They stared at each other deeply, Alex trying to figure out what was right. Did it really matter though?  
  
"Okay... I'll do it." Alex nodded.  
  
"Thank you..." Sam leaned forward and wrapped her up in a firm hug. "I know you can do it Alex." She pulled away with a warm smile on her face. "Come on, we should all get some rest. It's late, and we'll probably have more fighting to do tomorrow." Sam said. Alex nodded and turned to walk back into the small auditorium with her.  
  
They approached the table where Clover and Kira were chatting companionably, waiting for them. "Hey girls, what was the big emergency?" Clover asked.  
  
"No emergency, just a little best friend talk." Sam replied smoothly before Alex could talk and give away her mission.  
  
"Oh, that's cool." Clover said. Alex smiled and walked up to Kira, who smiled up at her lightly and stood up.  
  
"Come on, let's go get some sleep Kira." Alex said. "We'll see you girls in the morning." She said to Sam and Clover.  
  
"Goodnight Alex." Clover and Sam waved as Alex and Kira turned to leave the auditorium. They made their way through the darkness to the barracks on the other side of the base. Alex tucked Kira into bed first, pulling the blanket up to her chin. She felt like a mother to this girl she'd only found a few days ago. But then, Kira didn't have anyone else.  
  
"Sweet dreams Kira." Alex smiled.  
  
"Goodnight Alex..." Kira yawned and closed her eyes. Alex turned off the light and climbed into the bed beside hers, trying to get to sleep. She'd never tried to outright steal anything before... well... not from anyone who didn't deserve it in the first place. Her stomach was tossing, turning, and generally making a nuisance of itself all night. It didn't stop in the morning either, nor for the next two days.  
  
The next few days was spent lounging around, though everyone else wasn't so lucky. Her injury made her a liability on the battlefield, so she was barred from helping respond to distress calls from other resistance cells around the world. She took her turns manning the security room though, and manning the communications array.  
  
Kira was allowed to stay with her because, as Sam put it, "she's seen enough bloodshed for a while". She was really too young to send into battle anyway, so she spent every waking moment at Alex's side. In truth, she was afraid Sam would snap just like Pam and try to kill them all, no matter how much Alex tried to assure her that she wouldn't.  
  
People were already flooding in from all over the world to wait for the departure of the Argathin ship. There were a lot of them... but they'd actually been expecting a lot more. She supposed Sam's speech about protecting their land had been pretty effective.  
  
Alex realized there were just two nights left until their space departure as she walked into the security center out of the full moonlight. After tonight, there will be just one more until she would leave the Earth to pull the grandest crime in the history of Earth. The theft of high-powered extraterrestrial weaponry. It made her knees quake just thinking about it.  
  
"Hey N., is it nine already?" Alex Johnson asked from the other side of the room where the radar was scanning a completely clear sky.  
  
"Afraid so J." Alex replied with a lighthearted smirk. Technically they didn't share the same name, but it just seemed easier to refer to each other by their last initials instead of making him say Alexandria every time he wanted to talk to her. "I'm sorry to do it, since I know you just can't live without that radar screen." Alex quipped as she hobbled inside on her crutches.  
  
"I'll try to cope." Alex J. stood up and stretched out his back. A series of pops erupted from it and he let out a soft sigh. "It's all yours for the night... these eighteen hour shifts are killing me." He grumbled.  
  
"We can sleep when someone's dead, us or them." Alex told him. "Where's the coffee?"  
  
"Fresh pot over there." Alex J. replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with Brittany Spears and Sarah Michelle Gellar." The kind old man waved to her and turned to leave. Alex waved back with a kind smile before hobbling over to the coffee machine and pouring herself a nice, steaming mug. She put in some sugar before turning to hobble over to the radar screen and sit down.  
  
She sighed and took a sip before setting it on the counter and leaning back to begin her long, long shift. Her mind wandered as she stared at the screen, wondering what would happen if she was caught by the Argathins. Would they turn on the human race and try to exterminate them? Of course, she would try to claim she was working alone... but would they believe her?  
  
And what about Kira? Was she supposed to drag the fifteen-year-old girl down with her? She'd insisted on going with Alex to the Argathin home world, completely ignorant of Alex's real mission. She would hate to bring the little girl along only to get them both caught and possibly executed, imprisoned... or perhaps even something worse. What DID those little green aliens do to criminals? The thought scared her...  
  
Alex was jarred forcefully back to reality when a loud beep came from the console in front of her. "What...?" Alex watched the screen until it beeped again. A small dot was approaching, and the list beside the monitor didn't show any incoming flights scheduled. "Oh man... oh man oh man oh man!" Alex grabbed the walkey-talkey beside the monitor.  
  
"Sam! Sam I've got something on the radar here!" Alex shouted into it.  
  
"I'm on my way, hit the red-alert." Sam replied. Alex dropped the walkey-talkey and slammed her hand down on the big red button in front of her. Red lights began to flash all around the base, though there was no sound. It was an old base, and hastily constructed to boot. Still, everyone got the message and moved to scurry to their positions.  
  
Sam burst into the security center and jogged over to the monitor where Alex was sitting. "It looks the same size and shape as all the other Zardexian ships." She commented.  
  
"I knew it, it's an attack..." Alex whined. "They're coming after us."  
  
"But something's wrong... there's only one. So far actual attacks have involved a minimum of six ships. Why is only one coming our way?" Sam pointed out. Alex stared at the screen, looking for more blips.  
  
"Maybe... maybe they want a peace treaty?" Alex asked hopefully.  
  
"I seriously doubt it... contact all personnel to get to the evacuation choppers and-" She stopped suddenly when a large portion of the radar in front of them began to blur. "What the Hell is that?" Sam leaned down across Alex's shoulder to stare at the screen. The blur grew in intensity, then to their surprise, started to move across the screen.  
  
"M... more... ships?" Alex asked softly. Sam remained silent as the blur moved to intercept the Zardexian ship. The two women watched the blur overcome the Zardexian vessel. The entire radar screen flashed brightly before suddenly both the blur and the ship were gone. "Wh... what just happened?" Alex asked with a quivering voice. "Don't tell me they can become invisible..."  
  
"Not from what we've seen... Alex, stay right here and tell me if you pick up so much as a pigeon on this thing." Sam ordered.  
  
"Got it." Alex nodded quickly as Sam turned to charge out of the security center. Alex grabbed the coffee from the desk and took a sip as she turned back to the radar screen, not taking her eyes off of it for an instant. Several blips appeared a few minutes later as some of their helicopters lifted off to begin a search of the surrounding area.  
  
Alex's eyes never left the radar, but nothing appeared except for the helicopters buzzing the surrounding areas in search of the Zardexian ship. The search continued throughout the following day, with rotating shifts for the soldiers who were conducting the search, but they didn't find anything at all within range of the radar.  
  
"Maybe it was a computer malfunction or something." Clover finally suggested when she, Sam, Alex and the rest of the unit leaders were gathered in the security center. "I mean, I've never heard of a ship vanishing off the face of the Earth, and I've never heard of a blur moving, let alone colliding with anything."  
  
"If it was a malfunction it would've been more random, wouldn't it?" Alex asked. "They looked like they were moving pretty purposefully to me."  
  
"Not necessarily." One of the other unit leaders commented. "The equipment in this base is designed to be foolproof, and only accept consistent data. In order for a malfunction to happen, it would have to happen in a manner that is consistent with what could happen in real life."  
  
"But then what about the blur? And the flash?" Sam asked.  
  
"Perhaps the system trying to correct itself." The soldier shrugged. "I'm not completely familiar with this German technology, but that's the only explanation I can think of." He said. They all waited, watching Sam to wait for her response to all of this.  
  
"Alex... cancel the alert." Sam said at last. "The troops are exhausted from all this searching, and it looks like a false alarm anyway." Alex nodded and turned to deactivate the red lights that littered the base. As she worked her hand accidentally slid too far to the side, knocking over her mug of coffee.  
  
"Ooohhh, I got that... sorry." Alex set about searching for a rag, but didn't see any. "Does anyone have a..." She stopped when Sam grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.  
  
"Get some food and go to bed Alex, you've been at this a long time." She suggested.  
  
"But my shift isn't over yet." Alex complained.  
  
"You have a long trip to start tomorrow, you need to be well-rested. I'll take the rest of your shift in here." Sam told her. Alex sighed and nodded in acceptance. Sam smiled down at her and grabbed her crutches, handing them to her so she could stand and turn to leave the room. The sun was halfway down the horizon. Long shifts were a way of life these days, but that didn't mean she liked it. She just didn't want to feel useless.  
  
She headed into the mess hall for a quick meal of liquid gunk before heading back out toward the barracks. Her eyelids felt like lead weights, and the wound on her leg was aching. She hobbled into her designated barracks and moved toward her bed. She was surprised to find Kira sitting on her pillow, rummaging through a shoebox filled with pictures from her spy days.  
  
"You know, those are personal." Alex came up behind the girl. Kira looked back at her in surprise and tried to stuff the pictures back into the box.  
  
"I'm sorry! I was just curious..." She managed to shut the lid and shove it back under the bed. She was on her feet before Alex reached the soft mattress.  
  
"Don't worry about it..." Alex heaved herself onto the mattress with a sigh, sinking back into the soft mattress and pillow. Kira watched her for a few moments, then sat down on the bed beside her.  
  
"What was it like?" Kira asked. "You know, before the Imperium of Christ. It looked really... clean." She commented. Of course, being only fifteen, she was only five when the Imperium first came to power. Chances were she couldn't remember anything before the war.  
  
"I didn't notice at the time... but yeah, things were pretty clean back then." Alex mused, staring at the bunk above hers. "Clean, healthy... carefree. It was like living in a fairy tale, where you had no pressure... nothing to do but enjoy your days. The only worries were what you were going to do to pass the time, working a few hours a day at a sucky job, and finding your true love."  
  
"It sounds perfect." Kira replied.  
  
Alex chuckled lightly. "Perfect, it wasn't... but looking back, it was wonderful. I guess it's true what they say... you never appreciate what you have until it's gone..." She trailed off, remembering all the time she spent in the mall hanging out with Clover and Sam. She even remembered all the times they fought with Mandy over this and that.  
  
"Is that what it'll be like on the new world?" Kira asked. Alex turned to look at her, staring into her wide, hopeful eyes.  
  
"We can only hope." Alex smiled slightly. Whether that was what it was like or not, Alex wouldn't be staying around to find out. Kira smiled back, oblivious to that fact. Alex yawned. "Now if you'll excuse me, I seriously need some beauty sleep."  
  
"Right, sorry. Goodnight Alex." Kira smiled and stood up, turning to leave.  
  
"Goodnight." Alex called back, watching her leave. When she was gone Alex rolled over in bed and pulled the blankets up around her shoulders, trying to force herself to calm down enough for sleep. It was easier than she thought; she was exhausted after the long shift and the excitement. It took only a matter of minutes before her mind slipped into the bliss of sleep.  
  
The purple haze... she could see it again. Inside it, she could see another memory... inside Katy's house a little over two months ago. The second and last time they were together. She saw them making love... Mandy lying against her, her lips playing over the soft skin of Alex's throat. Even the traitorous nature of Mandy's older sister hadn't mattered at the time, they'd simply forgotten it all... for a while.  
  
Why did this keep coming back to her? What was this purple haze? She tried to talk, to ask it directly, but for some reason she couldn't speak. She felt the same bodiless sensation she'd felt after succumbing to the Zardexian venom... but this time she didn't feel any of the fear. Just a calm comfort... and sorrow that what she was seeing was trapped forever in the past.  
  
"Alex..." She could hear Mandy's voice... it felt so close. "Alex." It was getting louder... and filled with tenderness, desire... "Alex!"  
  
"Wha!?" Alex awoke with a start to find Kira standing over her. She smiled down at her.  
  
"You sounded like you were having a... 'good' dream." Kira chuckled lightly. Alex blinked, then blushed when she remembered the visions she'd been having. Kira giggled again and smiled down at her coyly. "Come on, our flight's leaving in two hours... we need to get going."  
  
"Sure... I'll be right there..." Alex replied. Kira nodded and turned to walk toward the door to the barracks... but stopped before stepping through them.  
  
Kira looked back at Alex. "Who were you dreaming about?" She asked slyly. Alex sat up and looked back at her, rubbing her neck.  
  
"Just... an old flame." Alex replied.  
  
"Anyone I know?"  
  
"No... she died." Alex replied. Kira's eyes went wide for a moment before she smiled apologetically.  
  
"I'm sorry..."  
  
"Don't worry about it. You go on ahead, I'll be there soon."  
  
"Okay..." Kira nodded and left, leaving Alex alone in the barracks. It wasn't uncommon for every officer in the base to be on duty at the same time, with the constant vigil they had to keep and the shortage of capable hands.  
  
Alex forced herself up from the comfortable bed and memories to clean herself up and get dressed in a clean WOOHP uniform. When she was ready, she hurriedly packed her personal belongings in a small trunk and pulled it out before leaving the barracks, heading out to the helipad that was the designated Argathin launch zone. During the night a light rain had started to fall, casting a dull sheen over the Dämon-Mörder Military Base.  
  
She found a line of people already filing into the large golden cumquat, carrying what belongings they had left in the middle of the war. Kira was standing off to the side, holding her own suitcase in both hands. Hers was smaller than Alex's, as she'd had little opportunity to save up any possessions. She didn't have anything from before the war.  
  
Alex turned to walk toward her, but she was stopped by Sam and Clover stepping in front of her.  
  
"Alex..." Clover said softly, tears coming to her eyes. "I can't believe you're really going."  
  
"I know... I'm sorry Clover, but Kira needs me. And I wouldn't be any good to anyone here like this anyway." Alex gestured to her leg. Alex's true mission was top secret, nobody could know about it except Alex and Sam. Even Clover couldn't know, however much it hurt to have to lie to one of her best friends in the world.  
  
Clover lunged forward and wrapped her up in a tight hug. "Be careful out there in the infinite cosmos..." Clover sniffled.  
  
"Don't worry Clover... I'll be fine. YOU'RE the one who should be careful." Alex smiled and nudged her friend playfully. Clover chuckled through her tears and nodded as she stepped back. Alex walked past her up to Sam, who was watching her with a carefully cool, but somewhat tearful gaze.  
  
"Alex..." Sam grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace.  
  
"Hey... come on... you know I'll be back." Alex whispered in her ear.  
  
"I know... just... be careful out there..." Sam whispered back. Alex nodded and patted her back firmly before pulling away. Sam moved away from her and stepped aside to let her pass and join the line to the Argathin ship. Kira smiled at her and moved to stand with her, moving her hand to grip Alex's and squeeze it tightly.  
  
Alex looked at her and smiled, squeezing her hand back in a comforting gesture. This was it... soon the Earth would be a memory for a lot of people, and Alex's toughest mission ever would begin. Stealing high technology from extraterrestrial allies... she almost wished for the old days of being routinely left in near-hopeless situations.  
  
The worst was... she could still feel Mandy. And that hurt more than anything, because she knew Mandy was gone...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	9. A Flame Rekindled

Part 08: A Flame Rekindled  
  
Tears flowed down her face as her tongue snaked from her mouth, sliding over the dirty and dusty leather of a thick army boot. She shook violently, the pain from the beating and humiliation from the gathered crowd battering what little spirit she had left in these trying times. Donna Ramone was grinning down at her, her very gaze draining away the last of her dignity until she felt like little more than a brittle husk of a woman.  
  
She lay on the floor of a padded cell, screaming and crying as the two musclebound guards tore into her fragile body like a punching bag. Her arms were bound against her body by a straightjacket, so she couldn't even attempt to protect herself. Blow after blow rained down on her already battered body, until she could barely feel anything but the searing pain that they seemed so desperate to inflict.  
  
She sat in a small wooden hut in which they had taken refuge, tears running down her cheeks to fall against her pathetically skeletal frame. Clover, the woman she loved, sat on the chair in front of her, weeping softly into one hand with a useless blackboard sitting beside her chair. How could she do this to the woman who'd come back to save her from the prison of her life? She was supposed to hate now...? How...?  
  
The lights were blinding... but that was how she liked it. The hut behind her old high school was filled with the things... sucking power away from the Imperium. It was a small, but important rebellion she was putting up. Plus the lights drowned out the shadows, taking away the memories of Clover rejecting her, the knowledge that in the end everyone she knew disappeared. Even the lights would one day flicker out... that was the way of her life.  
  
The motorcycle roared through the growing night at the head of a massive crowd, more of a riot really. They were roaring in protest of the government and approval of Nuetronic People, who led the pack on their 'four motorcycles of the apocalypse'. She rode on the back of Donna Ramone's motorcycle just behind the band, leading the mob-army deep into Beverly Hills on a mission... to send a message and obliterate the past.  
  
Hatred and anger overwhelmed her. At both herself and everyone she'd ever met... everyone who used her, everyone who abused her, everyone who lied to her. She killed them all, her fists striking down again and again on the mound of limp flesh that lay underneath her in the middle of the Beverly Hills mall. At last her anger was spent, her anger dissipated. She pulled back slightly, her hands and forearms awash in blood as Donna Ramone's still and unrecognizable face lay underneath her.  
  
Under the ground in a tunnel, she clung in fear to Alex's lithe form. They held each other tightly, their hearts pounded in dread, and a small whimper escaped Alex's throat as they waited for the inevitable strike they knew was coming. They'd seen it flying through the air. Their arms tightened around each other, time seeming to stop until finally they felt the Earth beneath them begin to tremble under the force of The Rev's nuclear fury.  
  
She clutched her older sister tightly, squeezing so hard she didn't think she'd ever be able to make herself let go. Her sister had been happy to see her... she didn't think Katy had cared about her at all through her life. But here... someone who wasn't going to abandon her. Just maybe... she was her family after all. Families always stuck together... Katy had to be genuine... she just had to.  
  
The sky was shining... glowing brightly with a purple haze that seemed to grow throughout the entire cosmos. She clutched the disgusting alien before her, its tentacles wrapped around her pulsating body. Far below her, she could see Clover staring up at her... there were tears in her eyes. But that didn't matter... the hideous monster before her was all that mattered. The Reverend... the source of her misery, her suffering, her hatred. Finally, it ended in a flash of light... and then...  
  
... It was raining.  
  
Drops of rain fell from the sky, falling across her shivering, bare flesh as she slowly pushed herself up to her hands and feet. To say that Amanda Victoria Delaroyale was confused would be a dramatic understatement. What happened? How did she get here? Where was she? Why wasn't she wearing any clothes? Regardless of the answers, one thing was certain. She was freezing!  
  
Her entire body was shivering as she looked up, but she managed to spot a pair of spotlights shining brightly through the rainy night sky. With muscles that seemed almost useless in the bitter cold, she dragged herself toward the lights. Her bare flesh slipped over the slippery mud banks that separated her and her destination.  
  
She approached what looked like a military base, shivering violently and coated in mud. She pulled herself toward the gates that opened into the base itself, trying to signal to a guard who sat on a guard post near the outer fence. Finally he took notice of her and turned to call into the base.  
  
"Hey, we have someone out here!" He shouted. Mandy stopped moving, letting her body relax as much as it could wile the gates opened and soldiers poured out to greet her. Someone wrapped two rather thin, but helpful blankets around her body, though they didn't move her from the ground yet. She sat up, lowering her head to her chest and holding the blankets tightly around her shivering body.  
  
She kept her head down as the soldiers parted, allowing another set of boot steps to move through the crowd toward her.  
  
"Who are you?" A familiar voice demanded coolly. Mandy blinked and slowly looked up into the emerald green eyes of Samantha Simpson. When Sam saw her face her eyes went wide in shock.  
  
"F... f-f-f-forget m-me... alr-ready...?" Mandy asked through chattering teeth. Sam slowly knelt down in front of her, staring into her eyes with a suspicious, amazed look on her face.  
  
"You can't be alive..." Sam told her.  
  
"I... I kn... know..." Mandy chattered. "C-c-can't w-we dis... cuss this in... inside s-somewhere?"  
  
"Of course... men, get her to the infirmary immediately! Have her checked for hypothermia!" Sam stood up, shouting to the other soldiers.  
  
"Yes sir!" The soldiers saluted and two of them knelt down to lift Mandy up in their arms to carry her toward one of the buildings inside the base. Mandy let herself be carried, in no physical shape to resist or even walk there herself. They set her on one of the tables and signaled for a kind, but young-looking doctor to approach her.  
  
"And what do we have here?" The redheaded doctor asked, his blue eyes shining under the light from the bulbs overhead. He bent over to look in Mandy's eyes. "What have you guys been doing to her? She's freezing."  
  
"Th... thanks... f-for the... m-medical re... port." Mandy quipped sourly through chattering teeth. After that she submitted to the doctor's ministrations, letting him examine, poke, and prod her to his heart's content. At last the shivering had begun to subside and she found herself lying on one of the infirmary tables with six layers of blankets on top of her and a comfortable pillow behind her head.  
  
At the sound of boot steps coming down the hall, Mandy turned to look. She saw Clover step into the infirmary, her eyes locking onto Mandy's in an instant. The silence was deafening, and Mandy was sure her heart would leap out of her chest. She remembered hating Clover so much after the incident on the island when Mandy said she loved her... but just before she'd gone up in a blaze of glory... Clover had said...  
  
"Mandy...?" Clover asked.  
  
"Last I checked..." Mandy replied softly.  
  
"H... how..." Clover walked up to the side of the bed, staring down at her.  
  
"I wish I knew..." Mandy replied. "I remember floating in the sky with The Rev... high above the Earth... there was a flash. And then... I woke up in the forest..." Mandy blinked and looked at her blonde friend. "Did it work? Did I kill The Reverend?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah... you got him." Clover replied softly.  
  
"So... it's over?" Mandy asked hopefully. Clover didn't respond for a minute, stalling by walking to the wall and pulling out a chair to bring back to the bed. She set it up and sat down beside Mandy, clasping her hands in front of her in thought. "Clover... tell me what's going on. I can take it, I'm no chicken-shit loser." Mandy said.  
  
Clover smiled slightly. "Sounds like you got your attitude back..." She said.  
  
"Clover." Mandy demanded warningly.  
  
"Mandy, it's been three months since it happened." Clover told her suddenly. Mandy blinked and just stared at her. "Since then, the Reverend's race came to continue the fight... we've been at war for the last two months." Clover stated. Mandy just stared at her, stunned by the news. Three months she'd been... missing? Dead? Where was she? Why couldn't she remember anything?  
  
"Th... three months..." Mandy muttered softly. "So... where've I been...?" She asked.  
  
"I would hope you could tell us." Clover replied softly.  
  
"I don't remember... the last fight feels like yesterday..." Mandy told her. Clover sighed and put one hand on Mandy's.  
  
"It doesn't really matter anyway." Clover told her with a slight smile. Mandy blinked and looked down at her hand, then looked up into her shining blue eyes. "We all... missed you Mandy." Her voice lowered to a soft whisper, staring down at her. "I-"  
  
"Clover, we should talk." Sam stated from the entrance of the infirmary. Clover looked back at her, then down at Mandy again.  
  
"Give me a minute... I'll be right back." Clover said. Mandy nodded and let her get up to follow Sam out of the room. They didn't go far, just outside of the door where she could hear them talking. She couldn't make out what they were saying though until Sam began to raise her voice in frustration. Mandy listened carefully.  
  
"Clover, stop getting ahead of yourself! We have no clue who that is in there!" Sam shouted.  
  
"Who does it LOOK like!?" Clover retorted.  
  
"If you should've learned anything from seeing a man turn into a space alien, it's that looks can be deceiving!" Sam retorted sharply.  
  
"Look Sam, not a lot of good happens to us these days! Why do you want to look a gift horse in the mouth!?"  
  
"Because I'm afraid it's a Trojan Horse! And blindly trusting her could put this entire base at serious risk!" Both women fell silent, leaving Mandy to wonder if they'd left until Sam finally spoke again in a softer tone of voice she couldn't really understand. She heard Clover respond, followed by a few more exchanges before a pair of boot steps turned to leave the room.  
  
Clover walked back into the infirmary with a somewhat weary expression on her face. A guard stepped into the room right behind her, standing by the door and holding a rather lethal looking rifle in front of him. Mandy smirked slightly as she watched the blonde WOOHP spy approach.  
  
"Sounds like I'm in trouble." Mandy commented.  
  
"Sam won't let you go until we give you a blood test... the Zardexians CAN genetically alter themselves to look human after all." Clover sat down on the chair again.  
  
"I don't mind. I got nothing to hide." Mandy insisted. Clover nodded and gave her a slight smile. Behind Clover Mandy saw Sam enter the room again with several more guards and approach the doctor to talk to him. Clover was still staring at her, a downcast look in her eyes.  
  
"Mandy..." Clover coughed. They had only been able to talk briefly just before entering the base in North Dakota to put an end to the Reverend... before Mandy had used the Faustium to put an end to him for good. "We never got along that well... and..."  
  
"Clover, you already apologized in North Dakota, remember?" Mandy pointed out. "Well... maybe after three months YOU don't. But I do... it's like it happened yesterday for me."  
  
"I know..." Clover nodded. "I just wanted to thank you... and say I've really missed you..." She said softly.  
  
"You make it sound like I'm leaving again..." Mandy pointed out softly.  
  
"I don't know... but I had to say that..." Clover said. "And... in some way... I guess I love you..." She said. Mandy stared at her in confusion and concern. She didn't have time to respond though before Sam approached her with half a dozen armed guards flanking her on every side. The doctor who'd examined her before was carrying an empty syringe in one hand. Clover stood up and walked away from her, standing with her back to Mandy.  
  
"Are you ready?" Sam asked. Mandy replied simply by holding out her arm, which the doctor took and prepared quickly for a blood withdrawal. Sam and Mandy's eyes locked in a challenging stare while the doctor worked, right up until he plunged the tip of the needle into Mandy's arm. The two women's eyes turned toward the needle as it began to fill...  
  
... With a thick purple liquid. Mandy's eyes widened in shock, and before she could so much as look up she heard the click of seven guns being cocked and oriented straight at her head. "I knew it. She's a Zardexian plant." Sam said darkly, holding the barrel of her handgun just inches in front of Mandy's stunned face.  
  
"N... No..." Mandy stammered, too stunned for words. "No... I'm not an alien, I'm Mandy..." But even as she said it, she was staring at the thick purple liquid that had poured out of her veins. She felt just like she always felt... she didn't remember being a spy. She'd know if she was an alien wouldn't she?  
  
"Take her to the pen." Sam said quickly. "And post a 24 hour guard around her immediately."  
  
"Yes sir." The soldiers moved to grab Mandy's arms, hefting her up from the hospital bed. Mandy snapped out of her confusion to realize they were trying to lock her up.  
  
"H... Hey! Let me go! I didn't do anything!" Mandy fought against her captors, but she stopped when she felt the butt of a rifle slamming into the soft skin of her stomach. She doubled over to her knees, coughing and gasping for air as the soldiers grabbed her limbs tightly to keep her from moving at all. "L... let me go! I don't wanna hurt anyone!"  
  
"Then go quietly, we don't want to hurt you either." Sam told her sternly. She was standing in front of Clover with one hand on her hip, the other holding the pistol at her side.  
  
"No, let me go! I don't deserve this!" Mandy struggled against the men that held her, but they just pulled her toward the door, holding her so that that she could barely even move her fingers.  
  
"If you're really our friend you'll understand this!" Sam yelled at her. "Now stop and go quietly!" She said. Mandy glared at her, then looked past her at Clover. The blonde woman had her arms folded across her chest resignedly, with moist eyes as she watched the guards pull Mandy toward the door. She looked really pitiful... she was worried about Mandy. She'd always wanted to see that from the blonde girl...  
  
"We all fought to get rid of this kind of bullshit... locking people up on nothing but the suspicion that they might be against us. Well I'm not taking it from you any more than I took it from The Rev! So get... off... of... ME!" Mandy screamed, with a burst of effort she flung her right arm forward. Both guards who'd been holding it were thrown forward, slamming into the wall with a furious impact that shook the very wall itself.  
  
She didn't even have time to realize her massive strength before the butt of a rifle slammed into her jaw, knocking her to the floor. In a second every guard in the building was on her, beating her with rifles and kicking her into submission to keep her on the floor. She screamed in pain from the impacts, trying vainly to defend herself with her arms, but there were far too many to hope to fight.  
  
"Enough!" Sam's shout cut through the air, halting all motion in the hallway just outside the infirmary. Mandy winced reflexively as the guards moved, even though they were moving away from her. Sam approached her, staring down at her with a searching gaze. Mandy looked away from her, looking beyond her at Clover. But the blonde spy had turned away and had her head leaning against the palm of her hand.  
  
Sam knelt down beside Mandy and slapped her hard across the face with a resounding crack. "Don't you dare compare me to that heartless little bastard. He worked to kill us all... to soften us up so he could slaughter us all like lambs. I'm fighting for the survival of my people." Sam growled darkly, glaring at her.  
  
"You're fighting for your people... so was he." Mandy sneered back. Sam blinked in surprise. "He was softening us up as food for his people... he did it for them. But that didn't make him any less evil... and your self-righteous bullshit doesn't make YOU any less evil either." Mandy stated. Sam growled again and punched her in the face, smacking the back of her head hard into the steel floor.  
  
"Get... IT out of here. Throw it in the pen until we can figure out what to do with it." Sam said, standing up straight.  
  
"Yes sir." The guards grabbed Mandy again, having a much easier time now that they'd softened her up to the point of being barely conscious. Mandy's head lolled about, rolling in the direction of the infirmary where Clover was watching. Tears flowed down Clover's cheeks, but she was trying to hold her head up high regardless. Always trying to show her best face, no matter what the circumstances. Mandy wished she could too... but right now she wasn't sure what face she had.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	10. The Starlight Specter

Part 09: The Starlight Specter  
  
"I see your Zoomba... and raise you a Twickie." Kira stated slyly as she tossed the two Argathin candy bars into the middle of the small table she and several other interstellar immigrants were sitting at. They were gathered around the small table playing a game of Poker, a game that Kira seemed suspiciously good at. Alex supposed that the rules regarding what young people could and couldn't do were gone by now, so there was no reason she couldn't gamble if she wanted to. In any case, she was winning their dessert for the night, so Alex wasn't complaining.  
  
Looking around the large central living area the Argathins had given them, one would think they were just living in a hotel or something. They must've done their homework about Earth, because the floors were carpeted instead of the cold steel that coated the rest of the ship, and the chairs were lush recliners that folded perfectly to fit the human body as they sat down on them. The couches were thick and fluffy, and the beds they used at night were like sleeping on clouds.  
  
The only thing that gave away the fact that they were in space were the stars outside the large window set on the outer hull of the ship. It wasn't visible from outside for some reason, but from in here they could see that almost the entire wall was transparent. It had been disturbing and awe-inspiring at first, but now five days later they were beginning to adjust and move on with other concerns. Like winning extra food.  
  
"I see your Twickie, girl, and raise you a Sniz." One of the men at the pokey table grinned. The rest of the players threw down their cards except for Kira, who kept a calm, confident smile on her face.  
  
"I see your Sniz." Kira tossed the delicious little cookie onto the table. "So, what ya got buddy?" She demanded. The man smirked and laid his hand out on the table.  
  
"Full House." He grinned. Kira just stared at him expressionlessly, holding her cards close to her chest. The spectators all turned toward her, waiting for her to reveal her hands. Slowly she lowered her cards to the table, at which point her opponent cursed to himself and the tense spectators burst up laughing.  
  
"Royal Flush." Kira smirked and pulled the candy from the center of the table. "Try again tomorrow night grandpa, this helpless little girl needs to fatten up a bit." She stuffed the candy in her pockets and got up from her seat. She was fairly thin now that Alex thought about it, but who wasn't after ten years of military conflicts?  
  
Kira walked toward the outside window to the chairs where Alex was sitting. Alex put her hand up for a high-five as the teenage girl walked past to sit down in the seat beside her.  
  
"Here, enjoy." Kira held out one of the Sniz cookies.  
  
"Thanks." Alex took it and tore open the wrapper so she could nibble on it. The Argathins mostly provided human food like hamburgers and steaks, but it seemed they'd never gotten around to studying human junk food. But the alien junk food was pretty good anyway. Alex stared out the window into the starry darkness as she nibbled.  
  
"It's so weird." Kira commented, staring at the stars outside. "We've been dreaming of going to the stars for so long... now here we are in first class." Alex chuckled.  
  
"Weird is the story of my life Kira." Alex smiled slightly. "Remind me to tell you about a whacko named Macker the Safe Cracker some time." Kira smiled back and nodded before turning back to the stars.  
  
"So how long until we arrive at our new home?" Kira asked.  
  
"About another week I think. Apparently it takes a while to go a few billion light years even with alien technology." Alex smirked. Kira nodded.  
  
Suddenly the teenage girl gasped. "What day is it!?"  
  
"March fifth I think. Why?" Alex asked curiously.  
  
"Oh..." The girl blushed and looked down at the carpet in embarrassment. "It's childish... but my birthday was yesterday." She shook her head and chuckled at herself. "I know, it's stupid for someone to worry about that in this day and age but... it always helped me keep track of myself... you know? Like where I go in life... where I've been..."  
  
"It's not strange at all. Happy Birthday." Alex smiled. "Just think, next year you'll be living in a peaceful home with no wars or conflicts. Maybe with a hubby." Alex winked and nudged her teenage friend in the side. Kira blushed slightly. "Heck, maybe you could even have a kid. If you want one. Like anyone's gonna stop ya." Kira blushed again and giggled.  
  
"I guess you're right." Kira replied. "I never thought of what to do with myself without having anyone to fight. I could get married... have a family... or just sit around and eat all day."  
  
"Ah, American dream." Alex raised her cookie in a sudden toast. Kira laughed lightly as Alex started nibbling on the cookie again.  
  
"Well, I should get ready for bed." Kira stood up. There wasn't really any indication as to day and night here in space except for the clocks that were set up in various areas. They'd all been synched up despite the fact that a lot of people here came from different areas of the Earth, and thus different time zones.  
  
"Sure, I'll be there in a few minutes." Alex said. Kira nodded and turned to walk toward the bedroom they shared. Alex turned back to the stars with her hands cradled in her lap, watching the shining spots of light pass by the window. Suddenly a purple haze appeared in front of the stars, moving into view. It looked like a manta ray swimming through space beside the massive Argathin space ship. In fact, it was the SIZE of the space ship.  
  
"Whoa..." Alex muttered in surprise, pushing herself up to a standing position. The purple haze paced them easily, almost looking like it was moving toward them. Alex stared in curiosity and wonder, walking toward the window to meet the sparkling see-through energy halfway. The haze floated up toward the window, almost as if to greet her.  
  
Alex raised her hand and placed it against the cool glass. She watched in wonder as the purple energy haze moved closer, a small tendril of energy reaching out toward the window to form the exact shape of her hand. Alex stared past the tendril, deep into the swirling violet essence. It was the same energy that haunted her dreams twice before... the same energy that had shown her the images of Mandy.  
  
Suddenly, it vanished without a trace. Alex blinked and pressed herself against the glass, trying to look around for it, but it was simply gone. She searched the stars outside, but didn't see any sign of it. Maybe it left... or maybe it had been killed somehow? Whatever it was...  
  
"Are you well Alex?" Alex jumped in surprise when she heard one of the Argathins speak from behind her. The little alien blinked as Alex turned around, panting slightly. "I didn't mean to startle you."  
  
"It's okay... not your fault. I just saw something that kinda creeped me out..." Alex replied.  
  
"What was it? Is there something wrong with our ship?" The alien replied. Alex tried to figure out who the little person was exactly, but truth be told, they all looked alike to her. She wasn't about to say that though.  
  
"No... not on the ship. Outside." Alex pointed to the stars outside the window. "A purple mist or something... it followed the ship and reached out to touch the window... then it just kind of vanished." She explained as best she could, leaving out the part about how familiar it had seemed to her. She didn't want to sound completely insane.  
  
"Ah, it must have been a Starlight Specter." The little alien nodded wisely.  
  
"A what?" Alex asked.  
  
"A Starlight Specter. Well, that's not their scientific name, but it is what they have come to be known as among my people."  
  
"That's a beautiful name for a beautiful creature." Alex smiled slightly. "What are they exactly? Some kind of ghost?"  
  
"Some think so. They think that they're the imprint of a person who died with a strong heart... the stronger the heart, the bigger the Specter." The alien looked out the window with a slight smirk on his lips. "Of course, others think they're bursts of energy forming into random shapes with no other way to be expended."  
  
"What do YOU think?" Alex asked curiously.  
  
"I think they're pretty." The alien smiled up at her calmly. "You must be tired, it is getting late in human time." Alex shot a glance at one of the clocks and found that it was already 11:42 PM.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll see you tomorrow." Alex nodded and turned to walk toward the hallway that led toward the bedrooms. The little alien waved after her as she made her way down the hall to the back, where she turned into the room she and Kira had been sharing. It had two extremely comfortable beds side-by-side, with a view of the stars through a window and various other furnishings more for atmosphere than to serve any real purpose.  
  
Kira was already sleeping soundly, so Alex slipped out of her clothes and climbed into the other bed, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders. She fell asleep quickly, and rested for the remainder of the night without any interruptions or, thankfully, nightmares. She'd almost expected another dream about Mandy... but none came.  
  
She awoke to find Kira sitting on the other side of the room, strumming her fingers lightly over a small acoustic guitar. She obviously had no idea what she was doing, but her touch was firm and sure, so it sounded gentle even if the notes didn't flow very well.  
  
"Imagine there's no Heaven..." Kira sang softly under her breath. Alex sat up slightly to watch her. "It's easy if you try. No Hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people... living for today. Imagine there's no country. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too. Imagine all the people... living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will be as one."  
  
"I've always loved that song." Alex said. Kira jumped in surprise, her hand banging against the guitar with a sharp clang. They both winced at the noise as Kira blushed.  
  
"Sorry... I didn't mean to wake you up." Kira told her. "I just remember my mom singing that to me when I was younger... it was always my favorite lullaby." She smiled. "It was the only message of hope we had... everything else we knew or were told was how to fight or reminding us why we fight. Aside from those times the Reverend's preaching got to us of course."  
  
"Sometimes when you're busy fighting you forget how important it is to hope I guess." Alex replied thoughtfully. "I mean... if you don't hope for a better future, what are you fighting for?"  
  
"Yeah." Kira nodded and set the guitar aside. "We should go get breakfast before Big-Butt Billy wolfs it all down." She stated. Alex chuckled and nodded. They both got dressed in their normal clothing, which for Alex was her yellow WOOHP uniform, while Kira was dressed in a pair of camouflage pants that were a little too big for her, a black tank top, and black leather boots.  
  
They walked back out to the living room, where several silver trays full of lunch had been pushed into the room and left for the occupants to enjoy. Every breakfast food one could imagine was present in fairly great quantities, and only a few people had woken up before them to grab some. They fixed themselves two fairly full plates and moved to their favorite table by the window.  
  
They ate in companionable silence, listening to the other Argathin guests go about eating and talking among themselves. Alex glanced periodically at the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the purple form she'd seen last night, but it didn't appear again.  
  
"You look like you're waiting for something." Kira commented around a forkful of eggs. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah... I'm fine." Alex smiled. "Just saw something interesting last night, and thought maybe I'd see it again."  
  
"What did you see?" Kira asked.  
  
Alex chuckled and shook her head. "A ghost." Kira blinked, then chuckled and shook her head as well, waving the comment aside so she could go back to eating. Alex sighed and shoved a piece of sausage in her mouth, munching idly and staring out at the stars.  
  
She blinked when suddenly the purple haze appeared outside of the window again. She sat up straight to get a better look at it. It looked smaller than the night before, and this time it wasn't moving just outside the window. It flew up past the strong glass, toward the front of the ship and up toward what Alex was pretty sure was the bridge.  
  
"Kira... excuse me for a few minutes." Alex stood up.  
  
"Where are you going?" Kira asked in surprise.  
  
"I'm going to go ask how long before we reach our new home." Alex lied. She didn't wait for Kira's response before jogging out of the door of the living room, emerging into a science fiction world of steel corridors and turbo lifts. It was pretty cold out here, forcing her to hug herself to keep from shivering. Maybe the Argathins were cold blooded or something?  
  
She moved through the ship toward the bridge, occasionally looking through one of the windows to see the Specter waiting for her, only to move beyond the window up toward the bridge yet again. It was trying to get her up there... but why? Was there something Alex had to see?  
  
Alex moved up to one of the turbo lifts and took it up toward the bridge, stepping out in the hallway just beyond. Alex crept up to the entrance of the bridge. Looking inside, it was pretty sparsely manned for such a large vessel. Come to think of it, she'd never seen many Argathins around ever since they arrived at Earth.  
  
"The humans remain comfortable, Captain Ay-Leex." One of the other aliens said through slightly chattering teeth. Peeking through the door, Alex saw that he was shivering from the cold. Why on Earth would they want to keep the ship so cold if it made them uncomfortable? "And thus far, we have not been detected by any scans."  
  
"Good, let's see if we can keep it this way." Ay-Leex replied from the seat in the middle of the bridge. "Keep constant scans of the surrounding area... we can't afford to have anyone see us."  
  
"What about the humans that chose to remain on Earth?" The second Argathin asked. "Shouldn't we help them as well? After all, we ARE..."  
  
Ay-Leex cut him off. "I know, but we can't force someone to come with us. We can't do everything... we can only try to atone for what we did by giving what little assistance we can." He sighed deeply. Alex stared in confusion. Atone for what they did? What did they do? Alex was sure they'd never been to Earth before the crash-landing in the early zeroes during their first encounter, and supposedly hadn't been there since...  
  
Alex jumped when a hand touched her lower back. She whirled to see one of the little green aliens looking up at her curiously. "Are you okay Alex? You look troubled by something."  
  
"Troubled? No... just..." Alex looked into the bridge again, to find Ay-Leex and the other alien staring at her. She also saw the Starlight Specter still floating just in front of the ship. It was back to its full size. "Following the Specter. I didn't get a very good look at it last night." All the aliens on the bridge looked out the front window to see the creature in front of them.  
  
They began to chatter among themselves in a language Alex couldn't understand. "What? What's the big fuss?" Alex asked, hoping she just didn't do something she would regret.  
  
"The Specter... it's the biggest one we have ever seen." The alien beside her informed her. "It would take a heart as strong as a sun to create an impression that large." He sounded almost in awe of the being before them. Suddenly, as it had before, the Starlight Specter vanished, leaving nothing but the twinkling stars.  
  
"Is that bad?" Alex asked worriedly.  
  
"No, just unusual." Ay-Leex replied from the captain's chair. The alien had turned to look at her again. "They cannot really harm, or even touch, anything. It was just disconcerting to see." The alien stood up and approached her. "Don't worry about the Specter, even if it shows up again it cannot hurt you. They are immaterial."  
  
"That's a relief." Alex sighed in mock-relief, grasping at the reason for being there that Ay-Leex had just given her. "I was afraid something that big would swallow us whole."  
  
Ay-Leex smiled. "Please, return to the human section of the ship, you look like you are freezing." It told her. It also looked like the Argathins were freezing, but Alex wouldn't say as much for fear of seeming a little too curious and arousing suspicions.  
  
"Alright..." Alex nodded and turned to leave. She noticed that the alien who'd caught her followed her the entire way back, not turning down another corridor until Alex had already entered the warm living room where the food was still sitting on the platters. It seemed obvious that they didn't want her poking around outside of this section.  
  
Kira Approached her. "So? When are we touching down on our new home?" She asked curiously. Alex blinked, forgetting for a moment her impromptu cover story.  
  
"Oh... in a few days." Alex guessed.  
  
"Whew, good." Kira smiled. "This place is pretty nice, but I think I'm going kind of stir-crazy here." Alex chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, don't worry, it won't be long now." Alex told her, though honestly her mind was somewhere else. The Argathins were hiding something... something bad... and that disturbed her. And the Starlight Specter... a shade created by the death of a strong heart... Alex was sure she knew who it was, but she didn't know how to respond. So she could only wait... and see what happened next.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	11. Brittle Foundations

Part 10: Brittle Foundations  
  
Clover leaned against the console in the Dämon-Mörder Military Base security center, watching the monitor that showed Mandy... or whatever its name really was... sitting huddled against the wall like a child. She was cold and shivering, since Sam hadn't seen fit to give her any clothing and the pen was out in the freezing open air. The pen itself was fifteen feet deep into the ground, built from two-foot thick concrete like a massive pot. It was designed to hold entire squads of soldiers, but it also made a good Zardexian holding cell.  
  
"I don't know Sam..." Clover commented, staring at the image of Mandy huddled up in a little freezing ball. "She just doesn't seem dangerous to me... she didn't actually try to hurt us. Maybe she just wants to help."  
  
"IT is a Zardexian, Clover." Sam retorted. "These things are trying to feast on us, we can't give them any ground. There are over three-hundred officers at this base, and I'm not putting them in danger because you have a soft spot for a dead girl." Clover glared at her as her fists clenched, but she decided to ignore the comment and shook her head.  
  
"We have no evidence that she ever intended to hurt any of us." Clover pointed out. "All she was when I talked to her, was confused. You saw how she reacted... it's like even SHE didn't know she was a Zardexian."  
  
"It's called acting. Something you should know a lot about." Sam countered. "Even if it wasn't going to hurt us, chances are it was gonna call its pals here to do it."  
  
"You don't KNOW that! She hasn't even tried to escape again in the last four days!" Clover sighed in resignation. "Look, at LEAST let me give her some clothes or a blanket or something. I mean look at her. She's freezing! It's only forty-seven degrees out there! Forcing her to sit out there naked in this kind of weather is just cruel no matter how tough and weather-resistant Zardexians are."  
  
"We have more important things to worry about than keeping a Zardexian comfortable." Sam told her. "Like figuring out where it came from, and why it was here in the first place."  
  
"I don't think even SHE knows that, so what's the point in keeping her locked up?" Clover asked. "She seems to want to help us."  
  
"Does the word 'spy' mean anything to you?" Sam asked.  
  
"Does the word 'paranoid' mean anything to YOU?" Clover shot back. "Maybe she's a good Zardexian."  
  
"The only good Zardexian is a..." Sam stopped herself right there so suddenly that her mouth continued to hang open. Clover smirked as Sam slowly closed her mouth and gulped with the unspoken two words hanging in the air between them. Her face had gone pale, as though just now realizing what it was she'd been thinking all this time.  
  
"What's wrong, Sam? Why don't you finish it?" Clover taunted. "Go ahead, make the same blanket declaration that's been made so many times before. The one that drowned this stinking planet in war after war long before these aliens showed up." Sam stared at her with a strangely morose expression, then looked down at the console.  
  
"Okay... I'll give you access to the pen. Give it whatever you think it'll need. But I can't let it wander around the base freely. It'd be too great a security risk, and could cause a riot among the troops." Sam said. Clover smiled slightly and nodded.  
  
"Thanks, Sam." Clover saluted before turning to leave the security center. She stopped by the barracks on her way to the holding pen to grab one of the spare blankets, a full set of thick army-fatigues, thick wool socks and one of the spare pillows. She carried it all cradled under her arms the rest of the way to the pen, where she found the guards staring down at Mandy with almost bloodthirsty looks on their faces.  
  
"I'm going in, now." Clover told them. The guards shot her dark glares, as though she was about to stab them both in the back.  
  
"Yes, sir." The guard spat acidly. He pushed the small key into a console a few feet away from the lip of the pit. One of the cement walls inside the pit began to fragment and slide forward piece by piece, forming a set of cold hard steps down to the floor. Mandy was watching them from the far wall, though she didn't seem overtly interested in the proceedings.  
  
Clover made her way down the steps and approached her. She heard the cement withdraw back into the wall when she reached the bottom, trapping her inside the pen with Mandy. Suddenly she wasn't so sure about trusting the Zardexian... but it was too late to back out now.  
  
"Hey." Clover knelt down in front of her. Mandy looked up, looking just like Clover remembered from a little over three months ago. It was like looking into the past or something. Pretty disorienting. "I brought you some things to make you more comfortable. They're not the warmest in the world, but they're better than nothing." Clover held out the clothing and blankets.  
  
"Th... thanks..." Mandy grabbed the fatigues from her and hurriedly slid them on. Her limbs were shaking pretty violently from the cold, so Clover moved forward to help her. When they were on Clover found herself barely a foot away from Mandy, staring into her deep violet eyes. "Here I thought you were trying to kill me out here..." She said.  
  
"Nah... Sam just had a small lapse in judgment for a while." Clover replied. Mandy nodded, grabbing the blanket and pulling it tightly around herself in addition to the thick fatigues that now covered her body. Clover gulped, wishing she could take her up to the barracks where it was actually warm, but Sam was right about one thing. Even if Mandy was trustworthy, seeing a known Zardexian wandering around the base could have disastrous effects with the other soldiers.  
  
"So you really don't know your real name or anything?" Clover asked. Mandy looked up at her.  
  
"My name is Amanda Victoria Delaroyale." She replied simply. "That's all it needs to be as far as I'm concerned... I don't know what happened to me, but I don't care. I still FEEL like Mandy..." She lifted her hand and stared down at it. "I remember everything I've been through, every time I've loved someone, every time I've been hurt, every wish I ever made."  
  
"But are you sure YOU were the one who felt all those things?" Clover asked.  
  
"No... but they're the only feelings I have aside from feeling 'cold'." Mandy replied. Clover nodded. "Why did you tell me you loved me if you knew that my test would reveal Zardexian blood?"  
  
"Because... I guess I wanted to see you as Mandy long enough to tell her that... because after everything I helped put her through, I didn't get a chance to really make her feel better." Clover replied. "I guess I sorta used you to vent my guilt over the way she died."  
  
"The way I died you mean..." Mandy replied. Clover didn't respond, just knelt down on the cement floor in front of the woman who'd given her life for them over three months ago.  
  
They were both startled when Clover's communicator started to beep from her hip. "Sheesh Sam..." Clover grabbed it and held it up to her lips. "Clover here, what's going on?"  
  
"Clover, we got an emergency distress call from a Chinese military base. Something about a giant ship... I think this may be the main fleet the Argathins warned us about." Sam said. "The communication was cut a minute ago, so I don't know if anybody's left, but we can't just abandon them if there are any survivors."  
  
"Alright, I'm coming." Clover tucked the communicator away and stood up, looking down at Mandy. "I'll try to come back later some time. I still have things I want to talk to you about."  
  
"Not like I'm going anywhere." Mandy quipped. Clover smirked and signaled up to the guards that she was ready to leave. They extended the cement staircase to let her out of the pit and pulled it back into the wall once she was up. She rushed toward the helipad, where the helicopters were gearing up to transport them all to the Chinese base.  
  
Sam met her there. "You take command of units 3 and 4. I'll lead units 1 and 2." She stated quickly.  
  
"Got it." Clover nodded and jumped into the helicopter carrying unit 3. She sat down while Sam gave the order to move out, and within fifteen minutes of receiving the distress call they were on their way. The resistance cells were small, so that meant they had to be ready to help each other at the drop of a hat. And Sam's cell was no different.  
  
They crossed the land at a quick pace, as the copters were made for fast travel over long distances. After an hour and a half they made it to the military base from which the distress call had come. They circled over the base, looking for any sign of movement, but none appeared. There were no signs of life at all, either human or alien.  
  
"Take us down." Sam ordered over the copters' intercom systems. The vehicles floated gently down toward the ground, landing easily in the dead center of the base. And 'dead' was really the only word one could use to describe the sight that met them when they emerged from the vehicles. What had looked like an abandoned base from the air was littered with bodies.  
  
"What the Hell...?" Clover ran up to one soldier and knelt down beside him. She felt for a pulse, but felt none. "Sam... they're dead. But I don't see any wounds on this one... or most of the others."  
  
"And if the Zardexians had done this, there wouldn't be any bodies left." Sam confirmed Clover's suspicion... this hadn't been done by any alien force. "But who would do it...?" She asked. Clover touched the guard's cheek and moved his head to the side curiously. Blood had leaked out of his ears and stained the Earth under his head.  
  
"Sam..." Clover said softly and gave her friend a worried glance. Sam didn't respond for a moment, kneeling down beside Clover to examine the body.  
  
"The Ear Bleeder..." Sam grumbled darkly. She pushed herself up to her feet, looking around at the dead base. "Someone must've retrieved it from Moscow... I knew we should've destroyed it when we had the chance." She stated. She had tried to have it destroyed the moment she took power over WOOHP, but her generals had decided that the alien technology was too valuable to throw away like that.  
  
"What do we do?" Clover asked.  
  
"We get our butts over to Moscow and investigate. Maybe there's some clue about who did this." Sam turned to look at the soldiers, who were examining the remains, and some of whom had begun trying to bury them. "Everyone pack up, we're leaving NOW."  
  
"Yes sir!" The soldiers all dropped what they were doing and made for the helicopters again.  
  
Clover walked up to Sam and put a hand on her shoulder, but was shrugged off. "I'm fine, we need to move quickly." Sam marched toward the helicopter that contained unit 1. Clover watched her go, then sighed and boarded her own ride before Sam could order them to leave without her. They took off across the sky, toward the north to Russia.  
  
On the way, Clover couldn't help but wonder if Sam was okay. She'd been there the first time the Ear Bleeder was used, and seemed to go nuts any time someone so much as mentioned it around her. To see it back in action had to be hard for her redheaded friend. She would have to talk to her when they got back to the Dämon-Mörder Military Base.  
  
"Oh my God..." Sam's voice came over the radio in the cockpit of the helicopter Clover was in. Clover snapped back to reality. "No... God no..." Sam muttered.  
  
"What's wrong Sam?" Clover asked worriedly.  
  
"Look down." Sam replied grimly. Clover leaned over to the window and pressed her forehead against the glass so she could get a clear view of the ground below. Her blood ran cold and her face paled when she saw the massive steel form of a WOOHP Leviathan trudging toward the north away from the slaughtered military base. Attached to its back just behind the demon head was the Ear Bleeder. A massive walking fortress/tank with the ability to incapacitate entire armies at a time. Worse yet, if Clover's count was correct, that was the last working Leviathan WOOHP had built.  
  
"Who the Hell would be piloting that thing...?" Clover mused. Suddenly a voice came over the radio.  
  
"Back off!" Pam shouted through the speaker systems.  
  
"Pam!?" Sam exclaimed through the same radio frequency. "Pam, what the Hell do you think you're doing!? Are YOU the one who slaughtered everyone in the Chinese base!?" She demanded.  
  
"You Zardexian bastards won't get the best of me. I know what you're doing... and this is OUR planet!" Pam replied forcefully. "Now back off, if you know what's good for you!" The Ear Bleeder attached to the back of the Leviathan turned its massive dish toward them.  
  
"Okay Pam, calm down. We're leaving." Sam said in a placating voice. "All units, leave the area."  
  
"You know what... forget that. This'll just save me the trouble of hunting you bastards down later. This planet is OURS!" Pam screamed through the radio.  
  
"PULL BACK! NOW!" Sam screamed just before the noise started. An unbearable screech tore through the air, drowning out everything else, every other sense Clover possessed. She was lost in a sea of sound, clutching desperately at her ears in a desperate bid to stop it. Her sight seemed to have gone white. She couldn't even hear herself screaming over the horrible, overwhelming sound that threatened to tear her mind apart. Finally, after what felt like an eternal torment straight from the bowels of Hell, Clover fell thankfully into unconsciousness.  
  
Slowly her eyes began to open again. It was dark... but she could see Mandy sitting over her, staring down her. Her deep violet eyes bore into Clover's. Of course... she must have been dreaming. There was no other way Mandy could be sitting over her like this unless someone put Clover down in the containment pit. Or they'd let her run loose in the base...  
  
"Clover, are you okay?" Mandy's voice sounded soft and distant, despite being right in front of her. Clover could barely make out her words... but she could definitely feel the soft hand touching her cheek. Wait... if this was a dream, how could she feel Mandy's hand?  
  
"M... Mandy...?" Clover replied. She could barely hear her own voice... there was definitely something wrong with her ears. A massive migraine didn't help matters any, but she forced her eyes all the way open anyway. She saw two guards with rifles sitting on the seats behind Mandy, watching her with suspicious gazes. Mandy didn't seem to care though, focusing solely on Clover.  
  
"I'm so glad to see you awake." Mandy told her. "I was really afraid that you weren't going to make it... we didn't have time to get you to a doctor." She said. Clover blinked in confusion.  
  
"We...? Why not?" Clover took a deep breath. "Okay, just start from the beginning. What is going on?"  
  
"You passed out... along with almost everyone in the helicopters when the Ear Bleeder was activated. Sam's chopper got out of range and waited for Pam to move on before going back to look for survivors. They found you and a few others in the wreckage of the crashed helicopters and brought them back to the Dämon-Mörder base, but Sam decided that there weren't enough troops to make keeping the base occupied worthwhile. So we're moving to a new one in the remains of a small African country called Lyrobia." Mandy explained.  
  
"Damn that's a lot of stuff..." Clover muttered. "How long was I out?"  
  
"Almost thirty hours." Mandy replied. "We would've thought you were gone if you didn't still have a pulse..." She trailed off and coughed into her hand. For a heartless Zardexian, she sure looked relieved to see Clover awake again.  
  
"So what... have you been sitting here beside me the entire time I was out?" Clover asked curiously.  
  
"I... guess so." Mandy blushed slightly. "I was worried about you and it just seemed like the right thing to do." She said. Clover smiled up at her good but suspicious friend. The rest of the helicopter flight was taken in silence, with Clover slowly becoming more conscious and realizing the gravity of their situation. Just a few helicopters were carrying all that remained of the personnel stationed at the Dämon-Mörder Military Base. A handful of troops, a fraction of whom were awake and in fighting condition.  
  
In time they reached what remained of the Lyrobian Palace, now little more than a husk of a landmark. Half of it had collapsed in on itself since Lyrobia was one of the first countries the Imperium of Christ had gone after. They started small and worked their way up toward the bigger fish. So that the smaller countries couldn't unite and stand against them while they were busy with powerful opponents.  
  
They landed in the courtyard and Mandy cradled Clover in her arms to carry her out of the helicopter. "Take them to the bedrooms in the east wing of the palace." Sam instructed those who carried unconscious or wounded comrades. Mandy turned to carry Clover along with them, but Clover put up a hand to stop her.  
  
"Hold on, I need to talk to Sam." Clover stated.  
  
"But you're wounded, you need to rest." Mandy complained.  
  
"I'll be fine, just put me down." Clover demanded. Mandy shrugged and set her on her feet, helping her stay up despite the sudden rocking of the Earth like ocean waves. Mandy grabbed her shoulders and held her steady, helping to guide her toward Sam, who was busy talking with the makeshift base's Commander in the throne room.  
  
"Sam." Clover stated as they entered the room. Sam and the Commander turned toward them. "We need to talk."  
  
"You can't just barge in here." The Commander complained haughtily. "We're in the middle of an important meeting."  
  
"It's alright Commander. What do you need Clover?" Sam asked. The Commander seemed put off by the distraction, but apparently decided that pissing off his boss wasn't in his best interests.  
  
"Look Sam..." Clover looked at Mandy out of the corner of her eye. "About..."  
  
"Victoria?" Sam cut her off. Both Clover and Mandy looked at her in surprise, blinking. "Of course she can stick around, I'm not going to turn her away just because she's a new recruit or something." Sam's eyes bore into Clover's conveying a crystal clear message.  
  
"R... right... how stupid of me." Clover replied. Of course, everyone in WOOHP knew Mandy's name, but very few people had seen her before. A simple change of name would avoid the barrage of questions that they would get if they continued to call her Mandy. Of course, there were still officers who knew who she was from Dämon-Mörder, but Clover guessed Sam had a plan to deal with them.  
  
"Now if you'll excuse us." The Commander insisted irritably.  
  
"Right. Sorry." Clover saluted quickly. Mandy followed suit and they both turned to leave, with Mandy still helping Clover move so that she didn't collapse to the hard stone floor.  
  
"So... I'm free?" Mandy asked.  
  
"Looks that way Vicky." Clover smirked. "You're free to wander around to your heart's content."  
  
"Vicky huh? I guess I'd better get used to that." Mandy nodded.  
  
"If you don't wanna be lynched by pissed off soldiers." Clover told her. Suddenly she tripped and fell against the wall with a heavy thud. She gasped and clutched her elbow in pain as she plopped to the floor. "Damnit... I feel like Alex... so damn clumsy..." She growled.  
  
"You're still hurt." Mandy reminded her. She leaned down to wrap Clover up in her arms and lift her up, cradling her like a baby as she continued down the hall. Clover didn't seem to weigh anything to her, even though they were about the same size. It made Clover feel like she was being carried by a superhero, but she knew it was the Zardexian muscles hiding underneath Mandy's human frame.  
  
"Well, they're good for something at least." She quipped as they moved down the hall toward the bedrooms. Mandy didn't respond. Well, at least something good had finally happened. Mandy was free... free to help them fight a two-front war against both the Zardexians and a nutcase band of humans with two of the most fearsome weapons in history.  
  
Honestly, being a prisoner sounded more appealing.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	12. Rise of a New Imperium

Part 11: Rise of a New Imperium  
  
Pam sat back in one of the comfortable chairs in the Leviathan's cockpit as they marched back into their home base in Moscow. The city spread out before her, once dead, was now bustling with activity. New recruits had been coming in for the last few days, wanting to join the new primary forces of Earth, but they weren't allowed in unless they agreed to be tested. If they both passed and survived the test, they were allowed to join. If they didn't survive, they weren't worth keeping around anyway.  
  
Those helicopters on the way back from the Chinese base had been annoying... but as she'd thought, her ultimate weapon had made quick, easy work of them. Nothing could stand up to the combined power of the Leviathan and the Ear Bleeder... or as she'd affectionately come to call it, the Siren. It seemed fitting... for despite the ugliness of the Leviathan, it was the most beautiful sight for those who fought alongside it. And death for those who heard its song.  
  
The Siren marched into the city and stopped in a large field that had been cleared just for it. The spider-like legs lowered down to the ground so that the main body could come to a rest. Pam stood up from her chair and looked around. "You all did a fantastic job... the test was successful. All of you have my thanks, and my promise that this is only the beginning."  
  
"Hurrah!" A chorus of cheers and exclamations rose from everyone else in the Siren's bridge except for Alison, who stood silent and stoic at Pam's side as she always did.  
  
"Carry on!" Pam stated before turning to walk toward the elevator that led down to the exit. Alison never left her side. They emerged from the Siren to find the rest of the troops busily working on various projects that they would need to cleanse the world of the Zardexian menace. Nobody rested. There was no rest for a soldier until his enemies were dead.  
  
"The Siren turned out to be more effective than I thought possible." Pam said as she walked through the city with her second-in-command. "If we're careful, it can carry us through this war."  
  
"But we still have to be careful." Alison reminded her. "We haven't tested it against Zardexians that weren't trying to hide. We don't know how effective it'll be then."  
  
"Yes, that is true." Pam nodded. "And if it fails, we haven't found any weapons besides the Siren that might be effective against them."  
  
"Well... there is the Faustium." Alison pointed. Pam stopped walking and looked at her with a curious gaze. Alison turned to look back coolly, her face an emotionless mask.  
  
"Faustium... the chemical that destroyed the Reverend." Pam mused. Alison nodded.  
  
"There's more of it... hidden in a base in Antarctica." Alison told her. "If we could get our hands on it, we could try to modify it for other purposes... maybe as a power source or something for a new kind of weapon."  
  
"Yes..." Pam nodded. "And if all else fails... the explosion made by a Faustium enhanced human is enough to take out several dozen Zardexians." Pam added. Alison nodded in agreement. "How do you know where it is, Commander?" Pam asked curiously.  
  
"I've been around." Alison replied coolly. Pam waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't. She just stood at attention, staring into her eyes with her deep violet orbs.  
  
"I see..." Pam replied. If she didn't trust Alison so completely, she might have been suspicious of her refusal to answer such a simple question. These were hard times, and everyone did things they regretted. Perhaps Alison had things in her past that she'd rather not share. Pam couldn't blame her for that. She'd done some bad things too under the influence of the Imperium of Christ.  
  
The rest of the day passed with plans being made to go to Antarctica for the retrieval of the Faustium, and for the defense of the base in case of Zardexian attack. The defense part was pretty simple. The only real weapon they had against them was the Siren, so obviously it would have to remain there in case anyone popped up while Pam was gone. The mission to Antarctica was a bit more complicated, though it was made easier by the fact that Alison seemed to know it like the back of her hand.  
  
By the time they hammered out a plan all involved were exhausted and the sun was rising the following day. "We'll move tonight, when we're least likely to be seen." Pam stated with a loud yawn.  
  
"Yes, General. Please, get some sleep." One of her Commanders told her.  
  
"Of course... I need to be at my best." Pam stood up. "You all get some rest too, we're all going on standby until the mission begins." She said. The Commanders nodded and got up to leave before Pam and Alice. They made their way back to the house the troops had fixed up for Pam, but had also become Alison's home since Pam didn't want to be apart from her too much.  
  
They walked into the house and Pam immediately pulled her camouflage jacket off to toss it onto the couch. She let out a huge yawn. "How much longer can this war last?" She asked.  
  
"As long as it takes." Alison replied simply. "But General... I've been thinking. Maybe you shouldn't go on the Antarctica mission." She suggested.  
  
"I can't send my troops anywhere I'm not willing to go myself." Pam replied. "I need to be there."  
  
"But if we both go, and we both fail, then the movement will die. And logic dictates that since I know the base better, then I should be the one to go." Alison pointed out.  
  
"Logic? What are you, some kinda Vulcan?" Pam asked.  
  
"Some kinda what?" Alison asked confusedly. Pam slapped herself in the forehead. It took an interstellar war, but apparently Star Trek had finally become unpopular enough for her not to know what a Vulcan was. She had been pretty young when the war began, and Star Trek was pretty old. God, Pam just now realized how old she was. Thirty-five years old. Why was she still alive and kicking?  
  
"Anyway..." Alison shook her head clear. "You get what I'm saying."  
  
"Yeah, I get it. And it makes sense." Pam replied. "But if I'm going to let you lead the Antarctica team... I want to know why you know the place so well." Pam stated. Alison stared at her with an almost hurt expression on her face. "It's not that I don't trust you... but I can't let my personal feelings interfere with my judgment." Pam told her.  
  
Alison finally nodded. "I was hidden there for the first four years of the war... until the Imperium attacked and I was forced to run." She replied. Pam cocked her head to the side.  
  
"You were hidden at a top-secret military base where they developed one of the most dangerous substances on Earth?" Pam asked. "You're no normal victim of the war are you...?" She asked softly.  
  
Alison stared at her. "I am a normal victim just like everyone else... I just happened to be important before this all started." Alison replied. Her strangely purple hair glinted in the morning sunlight that filtered in through the window behind her.  
  
"Of course..." Pam said softly, staring straight at her. "Okay... I'll let you lead the mission. But I want you to be careful... I don't wanna be responsible for sending you to your death." Pam told her.  
  
"I'll watch out, I don't wanna die quite yet. Zardexians first I say." Alison smiled slightly for the first time since Pam had made her second-in-command. "Get some rest General, even if you're not traveling across the globe, you've been up a long time." Alison grabbed her shoulders and guided her into the master bedroom.  
  
"I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't found you." Pam said. It was kind of a stupid statement. She didn't FIND her anywhere, she'd been there all along, she just NOTICED her. But the sentiment was true... she'd come to rely on her for support in the last two and a half weeks since they'd taken Moscow for their home base. Losing her for the sake of the mission would be rough.  
  
"You'd still be leading us all to victory." Alison told her confidently, as if it was stupid even to ask. She tucked Pam into her bed like a frightened child. "I'll see you in the morning General." She nodded and turned to leave. Pam watched her go from under the blankets. She was not only the higher-ranking officer, but the older woman... why was it so comforting to be treated like a child by her? It was strange... but she wasn't about to stop it.  
  
The day passed by as the base slept save for the guards they kept posted at all times in case of sneak attacks or intruders. The rest of the day was uneventful, but Pam found that she became more restless as the day began to wind down and the sun started to set. She awoke at 7:30, and readied herself to bid farewell to the troops going on the Antarctica mission.  
  
She emerged from her house to find preparations already being made. It seemed Alison was pretty eager to prove herself on the field... a chance Pam now realized she hadn't yet given her second in command. What kind of a leader held back her officers like that? Well, she was rectifying that from now on. If Alison wanted to lead, Pam would let her.  
  
"What are you doing?" Alison demanded as one of her officers put a small box in the helicopter they would be using.  
  
"Um... grabbing weapons to defend ourselves?" The officer asked. Alison shook her head and reached into the box to pull out what looked like a normal weapon, but was actually one of the modified ones.  
  
"Micro Ear-Bleeders? In snow-covered mountains? Do you WANT to be buried in an avalanche?" She asked. The officer looked at her, then down at the Ear-Bleeders as a blush spread across his face. Alison shoved the weapon back in the box and held it out to him. "Exchange this for a box of actual rifles. They're not guaranteed to be safe, but hopefully we won't have to use 'em anyway."  
  
"Yes sir." The flustered officer nodded and rushed off to follow his orders, red-faced. Pam approached her second-in-command once the officer was gone.  
  
"I think you have a knack for this leading thing." Pam commented.  
  
"I've been watching the best." Alison replied. It was definitely a compliment, but somehow it didn't sound like one. It sounded more like a simple statement of fact than a personal opinion. Pam nodded in acceptance and stood back to watch Alison take command of her team, getting them geared up to go. She almost felt like a child watching her mother getting ready to go on a business trip.  
  
When they were all ready Alison walked back to Pam and gave her a stiff salute. "We're ready to leave General."  
  
"Good, good." Pam saluted back. "We need that Faustium as quickly as possible, but don't take any unnecessary risks." She told her violet-haired friend. "I want to see you back in one piece."  
  
"No promises, but I'll try." Alison completed her salute and turned toward the helicopter they were taking. "Alright men, you heard the General, we need that Faustium soon!" She climbed into the transport helicopter and pulled the side door shut behind her. Pam stepped back as the helicopter blades revved up and lifted them into the air.  
  
Pam looked around at the bulk of her troops that remained behind. She felt lost for a moment, until she shook her head clear and turned back toward them. "We're not resting on our laurels here people, get back to work. We have other preparations to make." She told them.  
  
"Yes, sir!" The soldiers saluted quickly and rushed off to continue their work. Pam clasped her hands behind her back and moved to walk around the base, examining the work of various soldiers. The night had fallen, but nobody was tired. They'd rested through most of the day, which perhaps was best. They needed to be less alert during the day for sneak attacks and intruders. Operating at night gave them an edge.  
  
Suddenly a call came over the communicator strapped to her belt. "General Reynolds, w... we caught something on radar." One of her soldiers stated.  
  
"I'm on my way." Pam replied into the communicator as she took off across the base at a jog. She made it to the makeshift security center inside what had once been a corner store and approached the guards on duty. "What did you see? Is it a Zardexian ship?" She asked.  
  
"Um... no... not 'a' Zardexian ship..." The guard replied, pointing to the screen. Pam growled deep in her throat when she saw half a dozen blips moving toward the base. "They're coming to attack us..." He muttered fearfully.  
  
"Sound the alert, I want everyone in this base ready to fight within ten minutes." Pam turned to stomp out of the security control room. She saw the red-lights they'd set up around the city begin to flash, warning the soldiers around that something was amiss. They really needed more sophisticated means of doing all this, but time was never on their side.  
  
"What's going on?" "Are we under attack?" "Who put this damn light here?" Pam could hear various soldiers muttering to themselves as she passed.  
  
"Everyone, get ready for combat! Now! On the double!" Pam shouted. That got them moving, charging toward the small house that had become the weapons storage facility. Pam walked beyond them toward the Siren parking square, where she found her fifty ton steel beauty glinting serenely in the moonlight. "Time for a test in real combat..." She entered the Siren through the elevator and made her way up to the bridge.  
  
The Siren lumbered to its feet as voices began to shout over the communicators, coordinating their preparation efforts. The Siren moved through the base in the direction of the incoming alien menace while far below it soldiers still scrambled to get ready for combat. "Where's the enemy!?" "Where's the general!?" "Where's my helmet!?" She heard. Pam frowned and shook her head. She'd been too soft on them so far... they weren't ready for real emergencies.  
  
"Everyone shut up and listen to me." Pam ordered through the communicator built into the Siren. All of the chatter cut. "All units organize behind the Siren, equipped with automatic rifles and Sensible Soundproof Earplugs. The enemy will be here any minute and if you don't have those Earplugs don't come crying to me when you suddenly go deaf. Now MOVE!" Pam stated. The chatter cut, but far below her she could see the soldiers moving far more purposefully to get prepared.  
  
In relatively short order the troops were lined up behind the Siren, with the Earplugs around their necks and their rifles held tightly in front of them. "Okay, move." Pam ordered. The Siren lumbered forward as the soldiers marched behind it, keeping mostly in formation with the exception of a few of the newer recruits.  
  
They made it outside the city before Pam's short-range radar picked up the six blips that the security console had picked up. "Everyone stop and put on your Earplugs." Pam ordered. Almost instantly every soldier was wearing their earplugs. They knew the consequences if they didn't.  
  
Pam charged up both the Ear Bleeder and the Leviathan's old lasers and watched the window in front of her for any sign that the Zardexian ships were within range. Her palm hovered over the Ear Bleeder's activation switch, but she didn't see anything in the night in front of her. It was fairly dark out here, but the blips on her radar were getting closer and closer.  
  
In the darkness she saw a red light begin to shine, glowing brighter and brighter ever second. It was almost shockingly close. "Oh no you don't..." Pam growled and slammed her palm down on the Ear Bleeder's activation switch. She didn't hear anything, being inside the fully air and watertight Leviathan. The ships in front of her, however, began to sway back and forth in the air as electrical sparks ran along their hulls.  
  
Pam slid over to the laser controls as they began to plummet from the sky. Piercing blue laser fire cut the night sky, illuminating the ships just before it tore straight through one. The ship exploded in a shower of sparks as it fell helplessly toward the ground. Another laser pierced a second ship, reducing it to little more than scrap.  
  
"Yeah... die, bastards..." Pam growled as she oriented on the third ship. But before she could fire they hit the ground, and a sea of aliens swarmed out of the lifeless wreckage on the ground. Pam quickly turned off the Ear Bleeder and connected with the frequency of the Earplugs. "All troops, charge and open fire!" She shouted.  
  
Beneath the Siren, the wave of troops charged forward with a hail of screams and shouts. Gunfire tore through the night, ripping into the bodies of the incoming Zardexian army. Pam turned the lasers toward the aliens, charging them up to full power as the two armies clashed. The rolling alien balls cut through the human front easily, tearing them apart with little more than flicks of their tentacles.  
  
The Siren's laser cut through the battle, plowing through both human and Zardexian alike. Pam cut swaths through the battle, firing on any Zardexian she could see with the Siren's downward aiming spotlight. The soldiers fought valiantly, and outnumbered the Zardexians three to one, but still their attacks were useless... except the Siren's strikes.  
  
"Die... die damnit!" Pam screamed as she cut another path through the battle, taking out seven Zardexians and at least five human soldiers. The Siren's lasers fired again and again, as Pam struggled to hit everyone she could. It was too hard to find Zardexians without humans around... her frustration built until she found herself firing at anything that moved.  
  
"GENERAL! SIR!" A voice screamed over the radio at last. "They're all gone sir! We've won!" Pam blinked and stopped, panting heavily. She stared out the window, looking around to make sure it wasn't a trick. As promised, all of the Zardexians within range of the spotlight were in pieces, and the only movement on the battlefield were the remains of Pam's army. A few dozen, at most... but she didn't care about that. She was elated... her heart soared at the realization of what just happened.  
  
The humans' first victory over the Zardexian threat. A historic moment... the point where the tides turned and humanity rose up to obliterate the alien menace once and for all. It was only a matter of time... and after Alison returned with the Faustium, they would be even MORE powerful. History would look back at this moment for the rest of the human race's existence.  
  
Pam activated the communicator in the Siren's panel. "Good job, all of you." She told them with a grin. "Today, is the beginning of a new age on Earth. We're moving toward a world without oppression, without fear, without rampant death and destruction at the hands of ruthless enemies. Once word of today's events spreads... the world will come to our aid and all of us will stand together against this alien threat without hiding in caves and bunkers."  
  
She heard the crowds starting to stir in excitement at her words, their spirits bolstered despite their heavy casualties. "So let's spread the word my troops... my brothers and sisters." Pam stood up from the chair, staring out the window down at the gathered soldiers. The siren's light flooded over them, illuminating their excited expressions. "The Zardexians will ultimately be no more... finally smashed under the heel of the Imperium of Humanity!" Pam shouted.  
  
The surviving soldiers raised their weapons with a resounding "hurrah!" They shouted into the night, a battle cry and a call to arms for those who still cowered around the world. Pam knew they would come... the Imperium of Humanity would crush the alien threat... and any other threats that surfaced. They would do everything it took to make sure of that.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	13. Sins of the Past

Part 12: Sins of the Past  
  
The Argathin ship glided through space as calmly as ever. Alex stayed in her favorite seat by the window, with the crutches leaning against the side and Kira sitting in the chair beside her. She could see the Argathin home world by now through this window on the front of the space craft, a small bluish speck in the distance that looked rather like a marble, but would grow by the minute until it turned into an entire planet. They were almost there, and then the others would settle down... and Alex's mission would begin.  
  
"Whew... is it getting cold in here to you?" Kira shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Alex looked around, noticing it now that her friend had mentioned it.  
  
"Yeah... maybe there's something wrong with the ship." Alex pushed herself to her feet and grabbed her crutches. Her leg was feeling better, she could stand on it now... but it still hurt to put a lot of weight on it, so she kept the crutches around.  
  
"Let's go find the thermostat or something." Kira stood up beside her and turned to walk toward the small human habitat exit, past the rest of the people who'd come with them on this journey.  
  
"Hey, wait for me!" Alex hurried after her, catching up just when Kira entered the hall outside. The lights were dark, leaving the hallways illuminated only by a soft blue glow from small tubes that ran along the ceiling. "Were we attacked and didn't know it...?" Alex asked in astonishment.  
  
Kira gulped. "M... maybe..."  
  
"Come on. We should make sure everything's okay." Alex turned to move down the hall. Kira followed behind her as she moved down the hall, peeking around corners to make sure the coast was clear. Suddenly one of the Argathins rounded a corner and almost ran right into her, its eyes going wide.  
  
"Alex, what are you doing here?" He asked. He had a worried tone in his voice, but he didn't seem that worried about HER.  
  
"What's going on here? Why is it so cold? Why are the lights off?" Alex demanded.  
  
"Sssshhhhh!" The Argathin shushed her vigorously. "Please be silent!" It looked around quickly, then gave a beckoning gesture. "Come with me, we should confer with Commander Ay-Leex." It turned to lead Alex and Kira down the hall. The two humans exchanged a quick glance, then followed the little green alien down the hall toward the bridge.  
  
Even the bridge was dark, with the only lights coming off of the strange looking control panels in front of the various aliens and the stars that shown through the front window. Ay-Leex turned in his captain's chair to look at them curiously. "Captain, she was wandering the halls again... with a friend this time." The Argathin who'd brought them stated.  
  
"You should go back, we'll do everything we can to make sure you stay safe." Ay-Leex told her. On the screen behind him Alex could see the blue orb growing in size. They were so close... but something felt wrong.  
  
"What's going on here? Your people DID send you to help us didn't they?" Alex asked. "It's almost like you're hiding..." Alex told them. None of the aliens around her spoke for several minutes. "You ARE... but why? What is going on here?"  
  
"Well..." Ay-Leex began. Suddenly the golden vessel rocked through space, a massive explosion sending it hurtling end over end away from the blue marble of a planet. "We've been seen! Quick, weapo-" He didn't have time to continue before another explosion sent everyone on the bridge to the floor. "No, we have to activate the restriction field!" Ay-Leex shouted.  
  
Kira helped Alex sit up painfully on her wounded leg, looking at the front window. A yellow light engulfed the front window, shining into the bridge, blindingly bright. Suddenly aliens started pouring through the window from the light, rolling on the ground and opening fire with some strange kind of rifle that fired bright red lasers.  
  
The aliens they struck screamed for an instant, then collapsed to the ground limply. "Alex, we gotta get out of here!" Kira pulled Alex to her feet as a firefight ensued, trying to pull her back toward the exit. Suddenly however a beam struck Alex in the back. All of her muscles flared... then suddenly failed, sending her collapsing to the ground. She was still conscious, could still see, but she couldn't move.  
  
"Alex!" Kira knelt down beside her before getting struck herself, collapsing to the floor. Alex stared at her helplessly, wanting to take the fear from her eyes but unable to do anything. Soon the gunfire subsided, and she felt a pair of little green hands grab her and pull her toward the front window. They passed right through it, and she suddenly found herself in a completely different ship.  
  
"Wh..." Alex muttered softly as she began to recover. "What...?"  
  
"Relax, human." One of the Argathins told her. "We're taking you to the Triforce Council. I apologize... this really has nothing to do with you." It tied her arms behind her back and shoved her onto one of the chairs. Alex watched as they carried the Argathins and humans alike from the other ship through the bridge into the back. They kept only Alex and Ay-Leex in the front.  
  
"Where's... Kira...?" Alex asked weakly. Her muscles still barely worked.  
  
"The other humans will be in holding pens, along with the traitors." The Argathin told her.  
  
"Traitors?" Alex asked, but the Argathin had turned to tend to the others. Finally they finished bringing everybody aboard and the ship turned to cruise the rest of the way to their home world. Alex's eyes widened as they approached the atmosphere, the golden ship turning into a brilliant fireball until it made it through and plunged into the white clouds that reminded Alex of a time Earth once enjoyed.  
  
"Whoooaaaaa..." Alex breathed as they broke through the layer of pure white clouds. A landscape of green and blue lay below them, a forest the likes of which had vanished off of Earth long ago. The water sparkled in the moonlight, and the wind blew through the forest serenely. It seemed to stretch on forever, but the ship flew over the forest until a glittering structure loomed over the horizon.  
  
Its tip touched the clouds high overhead, and the sheer mass of it made Alex's mind balk. The outer wall seemed to extend for miles in both directions. She could only imagine how big it was, the wall in front of her extended as far as she could see in both horizontal and vertical directions. Reflective sheets of glass on the outside brilliantly reflected the light of the moon, creating pale haze over the landscape that was spectacular to behold.  
  
"This place is... amazing..." Alex muttered in awe. None of the aliens around her answered as the wall swung inward, giving them an entrance into the center of the massive structure. They floated into an enormous hangar bay, where dozens of identical golden ships lined the walls. Their ship landed in a vacant space and the conquering aliens rounded them up and led them out of the ship.  
  
Alex was left without her crutches, so she had to hobble along after them with pained steps since her hands were tied behind her back. Thankfully her captors seemed to realize she was injured, and didn't push her to go faster. Soon enough they entered a large chamber with a glass dome opening out into an even larger structure, through which Alex could see buildings hanging from a high ceiling, with platforms winding through them like spider-webs.  
  
"Sir..." Ay-Leex bowed its head in respect. Alex forced her gaze away from the upside down buildings to look around the room she was in. A dozen Argathins sat behind benches high up on the wall around her, staring down at them with expressions of fear and anger all mixed together. One, who has a silver stripe wrapping around its head, spoke.  
  
"Ay-Leex... you know what you've done." Its voice was surprisingly deep compared to the other Argathins Alex had met thus far.  
  
"I had to do it regardless, Jay-Ri." Ay-Leex replied. "It was not right what we did... I had to try to preserve them."  
  
"In preserving them, you've very well destroyed us all." Jay-Ri shot back. "You know that. The Zardexians won't stand for this!"  
  
"Zardexians?" Alex asked. "I thought you guys defeated them? Drove them back? Why are you scared of them if you're as strong as they are?" The Argathins fell silent as all eyes turned to her. Jay-Ri got a sorrowful look in his eyes and shook his head.  
  
"Human... we have never defeated the Zardexians." It told her.  
  
"But... but Ay-Leex said... and then this world, there hasn't been a war here in at least a decade!" Alex replied. "Everything's too perfect to be routinely destroyed in a war around here." She pointed out. The aliens remained silent, staring at her with pitying and regretful expressions until finally Ay-Leex spoke beside her.  
  
"Ten years ago, one of our ships was damaged in a fight with a Zardexian vessel. It got away, but crash-landed on Earth. When the council learned of this, they dispatched us to find and retrieve the crew." It trailed off for a moment before glaring at the aliens who sat surrounding them high up on the wall. "As we were held captive by GOOPER, we learned about humans, how they act, what they believe, how large and... nourishing they would be to the Zardexians." It stated. Alex's mouth hung open as she begun to see where he was going.  
  
"When we got back... the council decided to offer the Zardexians a deal. We would tell them about a planet with abundant food that could offer little resistance... we would even tell them how to infiltrate your world in order to expedite their takeover. In exchange for this easy feast... they would leave us alone. The Zardexians accepted..."  
  
"You... you GAVE us to them..." Alex sputtered in shock, turning to look around at the council above her. "You... you used us like a piece of beef..."  
  
"If we hadn't, our people would have been wiped out by now." Jay-Ri told her simply. "We had no other alternative."  
  
"That's why we went to Earth, to try to save your species from our selfishness." Ay-Leex glared at the council gathered around them.  
  
"And now that you have... you've broken the treaty we had with the Zardexians." Jay-Ri reminded it.  
  
"They will come after us again, and this time there will be no dealing with them." A different Argathin stated.  
  
"Perhaps there is a chance if we make sure they know that this was the action of a rogue, not us." Yet another member said.  
  
"Turn them all over to the Zardexian command." A different member stated. "And hope that they forgive us."  
  
"N... no!" Alex hobbled into the direct center of the room, looking around desperately. "Those people you're holding have nothing to do with this except being dragged into it by YOU!" Alex spat more venomously than she'd intended, but her words had a visible effect on the council. "Give them a chance to live! Outside of these walls, your forests are large and plentiful! We could build a village, live inside the forest like our ancestors did!"  
  
"If the Zardexians find you..." Jay-Ri was cut off.  
  
"You can deny knowing anything about us. We'll be living apart from you, hidden in the forest. Aside from this right now, you'll never know we were there. And we'll deny ever having seen you before." Alex stared at the council, who stared back contemplatively. "Please..." Alex dropped to her knees, taking a sharp breath when her wounded leg hit the floor. She looked up at Jay-Ri. "I'm begging you, give them a chance... you did what you did for your people... I understand that... but now give us a second chance. You owe it to us."  
  
Jay-Ri looked around at the other council members, exchanging a glance with each one before looking down at Alex warmly. "Very well... we agree with your words. We will have our shuttles take you outside of the range of our sensors, and deposit you in the forest. We can give you only two days' supply of food... after that, you'll have to learn to survive on your own."  
  
"Thank you." Alex bowed deeply, putting her head on the floor. "Thank you so much..." She sat up and tried to get to her feet, but it was impossible with a wounded leg and her hands tied behind her back. Suddenly two Argathins grabbed her elbows and helped lift her to her feet, then cut her arms loose of their bonds. Alex rubbed her wrists.  
  
"Come with us, we'll take you to the shuttles." They told her. Alex turned to hobble after them, but stopped when she saw Ay-Leex watching her, still held tightly by the guards behind it. Alex blinked and turned back to the council.  
  
"What about them?" Alex pointed to Ay-Leex. "They were just trying to do the right thing."  
  
"We will deal with them." Jay-Ri replied simply, with a tone that left no room for contradiction. Alex gulped and looked back at Ay-Leex, who mouthed a quick 'good luck.' Alex mouthed back 'thank you' before the aliens who'd been guarding her grabbed her arms and pulled her toward the exit, careful not to make her go too fast on her wounded leg.  
  
They led her through several hallways until they emerged into the hangar again. This time there was a row of sleek looking shuttles lined up in front of the hangar door, which Argathins were quickly loading big boxes into, probably food for the first few days of their new lives. It occurred to Alex that this would make the job Sam gave her a lot more difficult... but she'd jump that hurdle after she knew the other refugees were safe.  
  
"Where are the others?" Alex asked.  
  
"They are being brought up as we speak. No offense, but we want to get you out of here as soon as possible." One of her guards told her. Alex nodded and watched the aliens packing up the shuttles until a door at the far end of the hangar was pushed open. A small group of aliens led in the refugee humans, who were huddled close together nervously.  
  
"Alex!" Kira's cry cut the air as she broke from the group, charging at Alex full speed.  
  
"Kira, hey!" Alex wrapped her up in a tight hug when she reached her.  
  
"I was so afraid... I thought they were going to kill us all... I thought they already killed you..." Kira sniffled.  
  
"Hey, I'm fine. We'll all be fine." Alex assured her with a gentle smile. "There was just a little mixup... but everything will be fine now. They're going to give us a place to start our society over, and build a new one without all the stupidity, fear, and hatred."  
  
"We're gonna have a new home?" Kira asked excitedly.  
  
"Yes..." Alex smiled at her, then looked up when one of the Argathins approached them.  
  
"We're departing." It told her. The other refugees were already being guided onto the small shuttles by the aliens. "You had best come along, time is of the essence."  
  
"Of course. Come on Kira, our new lives await." Alex patted her young friend's shoulder and walked toward the nearest shuttle. They boarded and took a pair of seats near the back, watching the alien pull the back door closed before signaling to its companions to head out. The shuttles lifted off the ground and took off outside the hangar bay door they had come in just a short while ago. Twin suns were rising over two different horizons, a yellow one rising over the Eastern horizon, while a sharp red one was peeking its way over the Western horizon, bathing the land below them in a sea of color.  
  
"So odd..." One of the other passengers commented about the suns. Alex agreed, but didn't particularly care. She was more concerned with matters of immediate survival than why two suns were rising in opposite directions.  
  
The massive Argathin building faded beyond the horizon behind them as they streaked past the thick forest far below. Alex could see beautiful trickling streams now that they were closer to the ground, and she saw various strange looking birds flying above the tree line along with strange looking animals occasionally peering through the foliage.  
  
The shuttles arced over the tree line toward a small clearing a long ways away from the huge building from before. It would take days to trek back on foot like Alex knew she would have to if she wanted to accomplish Sam's mission. Still, she made a mental note of the direction and the terrain. She would need that knowledge later.  
  
The shuttles opened and let the humans spill out into the clearing as the aliens began to unload their food supplies. "What is this?" One of the refugees asked in surprise. "Is this all there is?"  
  
"This isn't a home, they're abandoning us out here!" Another man shouted. Cries of anger and rebellion rose up, but Alex knew fighting would be extremely stupid. The Argathin technology wasn't on the level of the Zardexians, but it could still toast them all within seconds.  
  
"Alex... what's going on?" Kira asked. Alex looked down at her, then around at the increasingly rowdy crowd. Suddenly she hobbled to one of the shuttled and pulled herself on top of it, having some trouble with her leg but standing on top nonetheless.  
  
"Hey, listen to me!" Alex let out a piercing whistle that silenced the shouts of protest, at least temporarily. "No, there are no homes out here... due to circumstances beyond ANYONE'S control, they cannot give us any more aid than a few days' supply of food." Alex confirmed. The cries started again, but Alex raised her hands to silence them. "BUT... do you really think we need them?"  
  
"We're people, not monkeys. We need food and shelter!" One of the refugees shouted. Several others let out cheers of agreement.  
  
"And we'll have food, once we figure out how to catch it!" Alex replied swiftly. "We can't afford to start bickering and complaining now. We only have enough food for a few days, so we MUST start cooperating and learning how to catch our own food NOW! We don't know how cold it gets at night here, we need shelter NOW! But it's not going to be given to us anymore!"  
  
Most of the gathered crowd still looked uneasy and put off. "Look, it's not going to be easy. It will be hard as Hell... but we've survived ten years of constant war, struggling for our lives again and again. We conquered the greatest empire ever to come from Earth, we're not small and helpless. The human spirit conquered the Reverend, and the human spirit can conquer any challenge this planet throws at us! Now come on, I'm willing to stand up and build a new society, start fresh without old biases or advantages! Who's with me!?" Alex howled.  
  
The cry was almost instantaneous. Almost everyone let out a roar of approval, with those who hesitated joining in a moment later. Kira was right at the front of the pack, jumping up and down and whooping in approval. Alex made a mental note to thank Sam for showing her how to give an effective speech, but for now she had a lot more work to do. A society to help build, and a theft to plan... it was a lot to worry about. She just hoped Sam and Clover could keep themselves in one piece until she got back with the Argathin weapons.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	14. Synonymous Hearts

Part 13: Synonymous Hearts  
  
Nobody discovered the truth about Mandy's blood who didn't come from the Dämon-Mörder base. Somehow Sam managed to keep them calm and quiet, so she had free reign of the run-down Lyrobian palace. There wasn't much to do, but it felt good to be able to stretch her legs and be treated like a human being again. Even the small pleasure of wearing clothes was a treat after being held out in the freezing cold like a dangerous animal.  
  
Not that the cold was a problem here. Lyrobia was a desert anyway, and the planet wide depletion of the ozone layer that had gripped the planet turned it into a sweltering, almost uninhabitable sandbox. Only a fool would stand out in sunlight strong enough to sear the flesh in just a matter of minutes. Each grain of sand on the ground was hotter than a burning coal. The temperatures inside the palace were controlled by coolers that the WOOHP army had brought in when they first decided to use it as a base.  
  
Strangely though, the sun didn't bother Mandy. She knelt down on top of one of the highest turrets with the sun high in the sky, staring out across the endless sea of sand that made the world seem peaceful. Mirages in the distance amused her for a while, and she kept looking around trying to see what new ones would appear before her eyes.  
  
"You know, someone's gonna get suspicious if you stay up there too much." Clover's voice reminded her. Mandy looked down from the turret to see her blonde friend standing underneath her with a parasol held above her to block out the sun. She was wearing a thin tank-top that didn't do much to hide her body, but making someone wear full fatigues out here would be a death sentence. Even with these precautions, she was sweating furiously in the scorching heat of the desert.  
  
"I kinda like it. It feels great after being stuck in that frozen Hell." Mandy replied. Still, she slid off the turret and let herself drop to the sand beside Clover, landing on all fours before climbing to her feet. She'd trained a lot toward the end of the war against the Reverend, giving her a pretty impressive physique, but more and more she was discovering that she now could do things that made that seem like child's play.  
  
This display of acrobatic strength seemed to make Clover uncomfortable. "Yeah well, try to keep it down. Too much of that and people could catch on that you're not quite... y'know."  
  
"Yeah, I know. Not quite human." Mandy finished for her. Clover coughed into her hand, twirling her parasol nervously in the other. "Alright, I'll come inside if it'll make you feel better." She marched past Clover toward the palace entrance. Clover hesitated a moment, then followed her inside. Honestly, Mandy had no clue what they were supposed to be. Friends? Buddies? Partners? More than all of those?  
  
"Captain Taylor! Captain Armande!" Clover and Mandy whirled when they heard a soldier running down the palace hallway toward them. "We've received a transmission, and General Simpson is calling for all officers to come to the dining room immediately." He informed them. The two women exchanged a curious glance.  
  
"We're on our way." Clover told him. The soldier left and both women turned to make their way quickly toward the dining room. It was packed with the base personnel, and Sam was standing on top of the table, looking around at them all with a grim look on her face. Clover and Mandy exchanged a worried glance, but stayed silent as Sam raised her hands.  
  
"We've received a transmission from a military base in Moscow..." Sam said quickly. Gasps and murmurs erupted, Moscow was a place of near-legend, but Sam silenced them quickly with a wave of her arms. "After careful consideration, I've decided to display it and let you all decide how to act on it. We can't afford to be split anymore... so we all need to decide as one, democratically." She turned to the side and nodded.  
  
Drapes covered the windows, making the room dark enough for a projector to display an image across the far wall. It showed a field in mid-morning, littered with the bodies of dead Zardexians, torn into pieces and lying limp on the purple-stained grass. This caused an immediate murmur of surprise to spread through the crowd.  
  
"This is General Pamela Reynolds." A voice unfamiliar to Mandy stated over the images. It seemed to get a reaction from Clover though. "As you can all see... this is not a one-sided war anymore. Victory is within our grasp... but only if we all come together and stop hiding." The image of a somewhat older woman with black hair stepped onto the body-strewn field. "We need soldiers to stand alongside us..."  
  
"With your aid, this war will eventually end in our favor. But upon arrival, all new soldiers will be tested to make sure they're truly human... we haven't forgotten that this all started with a single imposter." Pam's face hardened and she stood up straighter. "This is a time for all of humanity to fight as one... we need each and every one of you. We'll be waiting." The transmission cut suddenly, displaying only a black screen.  
  
The projector was turned off and the blinds of the windows moved as Sam looked around again. "We know from a bit of our own reconnaissance that this victory was achieved through use of the last WOOHP Leviathan... and the original Ear Bleeder." She stated. "And I believe, from personal experience, that Pamela Reynolds is completely one hundred percent insane... but, it wouldn't be right for me alone to make this decision. So we'll have a show of hands."  
  
"All in favor of joining General Reynolds' army against the Zardexians..." Sam paused, as if knowing just what the outcome would be, but unable to stop it. "Raise your hand." Almost every hand in the room shot straight up into the air. Sam sighed and clasped her hands behind her back. "Very well... we'll leave tonight, after the sun goes down." Sam's eyes found Mandy's and locked there as she spoke again. "And remember to prepare for these 'tests'..."  
  
Instantly Mandy turned to march out of the dining room. She knew what Sam was saying... she didn't have human blood, she couldn't pass those tests. There was no way she could go with them... perhaps she could just vanish into the desert and pretend she'd never come back.  
  
"We'll find a way." Clover rushed up behind her in the hall and grabbed both of her shoulders from behind, leaning against her back. "There has to be one... the Reverend was in hiding for years before we took him down... you can't tell me he never bled once in all that time. There must be a way for Zardexians to have human blood..." Mandy looked back at her. She was right of course... but...  
  
"But I don't know how." Mandy stated.  
  
"It's your body... you have to know. Just try to think." Clover rubbed her shoulders. "I let you suffer enough... I'm not letting circumstances push you away from me again." She stated.  
  
"I'll... try." Mandy gulped and closed her eyes; trying to search for answers she barely knew the question to. Her mind was blank, but she could feel the inner workings of her body... pulsing, moving, giving her life. "I can feel my own body... but I still don't know..."  
  
"Keep thinking!" Clover demanded in her ear. "You can find it! Come on!" She squeezed her shoulders tightly. Mandy squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists, willing... forcing the answers to come to her. Finally, she felt the way her body worked... she could see it clearly in her mind.  
  
"It... it's like oil..." Mandy opened her eyes slowly. "Replace one liquid with the other... in order to have human blood I have to... take it from a human..." Mandy turned to look back at Clover. Clover stared at her wide-eyed, then grew thoughtful and put her hand on her chin. "I'd have to eat someone... well I'm not about to..."  
  
"Come here." Clover grabbed her hand and pulled her further down the hall. The palace was empty, with the rest of the soldiers still in the dining room talking about laughing amongst themselves about the turning tide of the war. Clover pulled her into one of the large bedrooms and pulled the sliding door lock closed behind them. Mandy blinked curiously.  
  
"What are you doing?" Mandy asked.  
  
"You need blood..." Clover turned back to her. "Ever hear the one about the blonde and the vampire?"  
  
Mandy's eyes widened. "Drink your blood!? No! I'm not gonna do that!" She shouted.  
  
"We don't have much of a choice! If we don't you'll have to disappear, and we both know even a Zardexian couldn't survive THAT long alone in the middle of this two hundred and sixty degree heat!"  
  
"I could accidentally kill you!" Mandy retorted.  
  
"Then it's either me or you, and this time, I'd prefer it be me!" Clover reached up and pulled the strap of her tank top off her shoulder, displaying her bare neck. "Now come on, do it!" Clover glared at her, holding her neck to the side and breathing heavily. Mandy stared back, at once repulsed by the idea and grateful... Clover was willing to offer her life. Could she really refuse?  
  
Mandy walked up to her slowly, reaching up to grip her bare shoulders tightly. Clover closed her eyes and gulped, but didn't even begin to flinch. Mandy looked down, noting that the lowered strap had revealed the curve of Clover's breast, which glinted with sweat under the thin tank top. Mandy looked up at her neck again and moved closer, holding Clover's shoulders tightly.  
  
She felt Clover tense as she lowered her lips to her throat, but all she did was plant a soft kiss against the tender flesh of her neck. Clover's body relaxed under her hold as she slid her lips up and down her throat, planting soft kisses everywhere she could reach. Mandy continued this for a few moments, then felt Clover's arms wrap around her back, one hand sliding up to hold the back of her head.  
  
Finally Mandy readied herself and bit into the soft flesh. Clover's supple body tensed against hers and she let out a pained gasp, but she didn't even begin to move away. The blood flowed into Mandy's mouth, the sickening metallic taste triggering a gag reflex that she refused to obey. She wouldn't waste a single drop of this precious gift.  
  
"Ggh..." Clover grunted and held onto Mandy tightly as she drank. Her hand clutched the back of her head, holding her lips against the opening in her throat. She could feel the blood flowing down her throat, spreading throughout her body instead of settling in the stomach. It mingled with her violet blood... and replaced it. She could feel it happening, she could feel every small detail in her body.  
  
She could also feel Clover beginning to go limp in her arms. She moved her lips away from the wound and grabbed a nearby washcloth, pressing it over Clover's neck in an attempt to stem the blood flow. Clover leaned limply against her, her face looking pretty pale. "Geeze, Clover, come on." Mandy carried her over to the large bed in the middle of the room and laid her down, holding the rag over her neck.  
  
"You'll be okay... just rest a while." Mandy told her. She pulled off her own tank top and slipped it around Clover's neck, tying it off to hold the rag in place, but not tight enough to strangle her. Clover looked tired... conscious, but tired. "I think I can feel it working."  
  
"Glad ta hear it..." Clover gulped. Her face was drained of color, but her eyes still shone with the old rebellious fire. She wasn't about to die from something like blood loss; it would take a hundred Zardexian attacks to finally send her to the grave. Mandy reached up and slid her palm over Clover's forehead, staring into her deep blue eyes.  
  
"Clover... thank you..." Mandy told her softly. Sure, Mandy had been like this off and on for the last few years. But that was when she was confused... struggling to recover the identity she lost at the heel of the Attitude Correction Corp. Now she was her again... Amanda Victoria Delaroyale, speaking gently down at the woman who'd once been her enemy. Now Clover seemed more like a guardian angel... the only person who'd spoken for her since her return.  
  
"Don't sweat it." Clover replied with a tired smile. "I owed you for blowing yourself up for me... now we're even." She said. Mandy smiled slightly and looked down, seeing that in her struggle to get her to the bed Clover's tank top had slid down, revealing her right breast. Mandy reached up to pull her tank top back up... but her hand moved past the cloth until her palm rested against the soft flesh of her breast.  
  
Clover stared up at her steadily, not moving to take her hand away. Mandy stared back, leaning over her and stroking the bottom of her breast with her entire palm. Clover took a shuddering breath, her chest heaving up and down as she kept her gaze on Mandy. Clover's breast moved under her palm with each light breath. Mandy gulped, entranced by the sight under her.  
  
Mandy leaned down slowly toward Clover, who just stared back under half-closed eyes. Their lips met, and she was a bit surprised to find that Clover was kissing her back despite the blood that still flecked Mandy's lips. The kiss lasted for several minutes, a soft, gentle touch that nonetheless had its effect on them both.  
  
Mandy pulled back slightly, keeping her face inches away from Clover's. "And thy stare, deep into mine soul, so long yet so far. With longing and reluctance... promises and fears... mine heart doth break to seek thine heart, so elusive and yet, desirable..." She whispered slightly.  
  
"I've never heard that one before..." Clover told her.  
  
Mandy stared at her blankly. "Neither have I..." They stared at each other for a few moments, then Mandy reached down and touched the bandage on Clover's neck. Her bite hadn't pierced any veins, and it looked like the blood flow had already ceased. But it would take Clover time to regain the lost blood.  
  
Clover reached up and grabbed the hand over her neck, squeezing it tightly. She flashed Mandy a weak smile. "I'd give you the rest if I had to..." She said softly.  
  
"Good thing you don't have to..." Mandy leaned down and kissed her again, her hand still lying against Clover's breast. Clover reached up to stroke her back tenderly, closing her eyes and deepening the kiss. The taste of Clover's blood still lingered in Mandy's mouth, but the blonde woman didn't seem to care.  
  
Mandy pulled Clover's tank top down around her waist, exposing her breasts so her hand could run over them both. Clover's breathing grew more ragged and a soft moan escaped her lips. Mandy slid her hand down Clover's body, down to the pair of shorts she'd taken to wearing to combat the desert heat. Clover didn't protest, staring at her with those deep, shining blue eyes, so Mandy pushed her shorts down her legs and off her body.  
  
They had no practical use for undergarments, so Clover lay on the bed, stripped bare except for the tank top still curled around her waist and the cloth wrapped around her neck. Mandy remembered this dream... it was one she'd thought had died long ago, on the island where Clover had discovered that she was a lesbian... or was it the night Clover stole the title of Homecoming Queen by sleeping with one of the officials? Either way, it now came back in full force, back from the past when she would look at her in locker rooms and showers... sneaking glances when she could and then picking fights to hide her true feelings.  
  
Mandy leaned down to kiss her again, running her hand up the bare flesh of Clover's side. She felt Clover's arms wrap around her body, sliding up and down the back of her shirt as she returned the deep, heartfelt kiss. Mandy wasn't sure when her own clothes were removed, and Clover's shirt was pushed the rest of the way off her body, but soon she found herself on top of the blonde woman. Their flesh pressed together with their hearts almost touching through their chests, after a while, beginning to synchronize with each other.  
  
The large, satin bed was quickly soaked in their sweat. The heat of the desert combined with their shared body heat to make it extremely hot. But the slicker with sweat they became, the more excited Mandy got. She pawed and grasped at Clover's body eagerly, her lips and tongue seeking Clover's as if they were ambrosia itself.  
  
Blinding, raw passion took hold, a passion built up over years of watching, faking, and yearning... and then having it be suppressed by the ACC. Finally it was allowed to be released, and Mandy couldn't have stopped for anything in the world. The feel of Clover's smooth, damp flesh against her own, the smell of Clover's sweat, Clover's ragged, quick breaths brushing against her cheek and throat, the sound of passionate moans from deep inside Clover's chest... it all came together as one to push her beyond her dreams.  
  
Soon however, the dream faded into a memory that left Mandy lying half on the bed, half on top of her new lover. They were both breathing deeply, and Mandy couldn't help but watch Clover's breasts rise and fall, glinting with sweat in the light that shone through the window high up on the wall. The sun was disappearing toward the horizon... they'd been at it a while. It was almost time to depart for Moscow.  
  
"How long have you been waiting for that...?" Clover asked with a sly smirk on her face. Mandy looked up at her eyes, resting her cheek against Clover's shoulder as she thought about it.  
  
"Eleven years, I think." Mandy replied. Clover quirked one eyebrow, but didn't say anything else. She turned to look up at the ceiling, stroking Mandy's shoulder with one arm. "In thine arms is the golden truth... the desire met and the choice cemented as destiny rolls toward the inevitable... that thing which some fear, and others hold oh so dear..." She muttered softly.  
  
"What?" Clover asked curiously.  
  
"I... don't know." Mandy replied again. She had no idea where this stuff she spouted came from... she was never much for Shakespeare even in school and she certainly hadn't seen any of his plays after the Imperium of Christ took over. Perhaps they were coming from the three missing months after the explosion that took out the Rev.  
  
"I think we should get going. Sam will want to leave soon." Clover said. Mandy nodded.  
  
"Here, let me make sure you're healed enough first." Mandy moved over Clover's body to reach the rag pressed against the other side of her neck. Upon pulling it out, she saw some fairly nasty looking wounds that would probably scar, but it wasn't bleeding anymore. Clover still looked somewhat pale, and the exertions of sex probably didn't help much.  
  
"I feel fine enough." Clover lied obviously, as her arms shook just from the effort of sitting up.  
  
"Here, I'll help." Mandy set about helping Clover get dressed and ready for their trip. She still wasn't completely sure that the blood in her body would fool General Reynolds into thinking she was human... they weren't even sure what kind of test it was. But a blood test had thus far been the most reliable one they found... so it was her best bet.  
  
When they were both dressed and ready Mandy sat down on the edge of the bed, staring at Clover with a blank look on her face. "Mandy, are you okay?" Clover asked curiously.  
  
"I'm fine... just a little scared..." Mandy replied softly. "If I don't pass that test, I mean... I'll be sitting in the middle of a military base that's successfully slaughtered squads of hostile Zardexians. I'd be flattened in an instant."  
  
"Well then you'll just have to pass." Clover nodded as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "And even if you don't, I'll help get you out of there the instant they so much as become suspicious."  
  
"How?" Mandy asked.  
  
"I'll clear that hurdle if we come to it." Clover walked up to her and grabbed both of her hands, pulling her up from the bed.  
  
"It's funny... I remember thinking that you could never be a lesbian no matter what..." Mandy reminded.  
  
"Time and hindsight have a way of changing things..." Clover replied. "Don't get me wrong, I still couldn't be a lesbian... but like Alex said months ago in North Dakota... I think I COULD be with you." Mandy smiled broadly and wrapped her up in a tight hug.  
  
"Let's go then... we can be together some more once we get to Moscow with Sam and the others... and we take the fight to the enemy at last." They both smiled and clasped hands as they turned to leave the large bedroom, toward an uncertain future under an apparently psychotic leader. But Mandy's heart was lifted by Clover's newfound acceptance... and love. She didn't really care what she was now. She was content to be whatever she had become.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	15. Forgotten Heiress

Part 14: Forgotten Heiress  
  
She was scared. More afraid than she'd ever felt in her entire thirteen years of life. Looking down from the window inside the Oval Office in the most heavily guarded building in history... yet feeling helpless and vulnerable. The masses gathered outside were far too numerous for even the president's Secret Service to stop. The siege was attempting to pound down the doors that served as the primary entrance to the building. She could see one man standing in front of the others, speaking with his arms wide, but she was too far away to hear him.  
  
"Mr. President, a team is being dispatched to get you out of here." One of the Secret Service agents informed the gray-haired man sitting behind his desk, as if it was just another day.  
  
"I told you, we don't need to evacuate. Once the National Guard arrives, this will all be cleared up." He replied simply.  
  
"Sir, there are too many outbreaks across the country to get enough of a force here in time, and the mob is close to breaking in." The agent told him.  
  
"Relax." The president replied with an insanely serene smile. "We can do what we want remember?" He leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. "Nobody can stop us." Madison stared at him. She didn't know what happened, perhaps he'd contracted some brain disease... perhaps he was growing senile in his old age... perhaps he'd been insane all along and she'd just never realized it until now.  
  
Madison pushed away from the window and marched up to him. "Daddy, please, let's get out of here!" She grabbed his hand desperately. "I'm scared..." She told him. His eyes fixed on hers, growing regretful for a moment before he smiled and patted her hands.  
  
"Relax Madison, what are they going to do?" The president asked. Suddenly the sound of the White House doors slamming open startled everyone in the room. The President blinked, and all of the secret service agents whirled toward the door and drew their weapons. "What was that sound!?"  
  
"Sir, the protestors have broken through the front door!" One of his agents reported. "We must get you into hiding!"  
  
"I'm not hiding from these lunatics!" The president insisted. "We're staying here, where the most powerful men in the world belong!" The President insisted irritably. The Secret Service agent glared at him, but couldn't do anything. He couldn't forcefully move the president of the United States, no matter what the situation. He turned his gaze to Madison, who'd walked back to the window to watch the crowds swarm over a blonde girl in a tight red uniform.  
  
"They're... they're coming in!" Madison whirled around, gulping in fear. The agent growled and clenched his fists, then grabbed Madison's wrist and ran toward the door, pulling her along.  
  
"I'm evacuating Madison, you stay with the President." The agent ordered his subordinates. They nodded.  
  
"You leave me daughter alone! Hey!" The president protested, but the agent had already pulled Madison out into the hall and was making his way through it. He stopped when heavy footsteps ran down the hall toward them. He darted into a nearby room, yanking Madison in with him and ducking behind the door, pulling the teenage girl up against his chest and covering her mouth with one hand.  
  
The footsteps passed right by the room, but several stopped and burst into the room, brandishing shotguns as they looked for any targets to take down. The Secret Service agent drew his weapon and fired two shots, straight into the spines of both men. The silencer let only a small 'thwip' escape the barrel as the men collapsed to the floor, barely even able to scream.  
  
"Come on, we've got the president! Time to evacuate!" A familiar female voice shouted form the hall as a small group of footsteps ran past the room they were hiding in. The Secret Service Agent held Madison close to him, listening for anybody in pursuit of the others, but heard none.  
  
He gestured for Madison to remain silent and ran out of the room, pulling her behind him. Madison followed, her heart beating like a drum as they made their way down toward the bottom floor. They stopped when several more lunatics passed by the stairs they were coming down, but paid them no mind. They charged out the back door, where it looked like a huge crowd was gathering.  
  
"Hurry, we can slip past them!" The agent pulled Madison along, sneaking out the back door and creeping along the wall while the crowd stood still, watching something in the center. Madison's eyes went wide when she saw a huge axe lifted above the crowd, its shine muted by the ponderous rain that drenched everyone. As quickly as it appeared, the axe vanished again into the throng.  
  
The crowd cheered and rushed forward in exhilaration, but Madison watched in horror. She knew what they'd been after... if they were sounding so happy, that axe could have only had one target... "D... daddy..." She muttered with a trembling voice.  
  
"Madison, come with me!" The agent pulled her away form the scene, slipping away in the rain and mud as the shards of a fallen government lay behind them. Madison was numb, from both the horror of what she knew had just happened and the biting sting of the cold rain on her flesh. The world had changed forever on that day... but in the midst of it all, her world in particular had been completely and utterly destroyed.  
  
"Captain." Alison's eyes flashed open at the sound of one of her troops' voices above her. "We're approaching Moscow." He told her.  
  
"Good." Alison sat up and stretched after resting for a while on one of the helicopter seats. It had been a long, tiring mission to one of the last cold places on the planet after global warming had reduced most of the planet to searing hot desert. But, they had been successful, as the boxes full of Faustium bottles were tied down to the floor in front of her. She stared at them with a victorious smile on her face.  
  
How long had it been now since the day she'd fled from the White House under the guardianship of Agent Smith? Seven... ten years? And she'd spent a vast majority of them in hiding, sitting on top of this liquid gold mine and unable to do a damn thing about it because any missing Faustium would've alerted the Reverend to her presence there. And being the daughter of the man who drove the world into a pit of chaos and oppression... she would not have been treated very kindly by those outside the Imperium. She was an outcast from absolutely everybody.  
  
So she'd been forced to take a new name. Only Agent Smith had known who she really was, until he was taken by the Attitude Correction Corp on suspicion of harboring anti-government activists. Alison often wondered if they'd actually gotten wind of the fact that the former president's daughter was there, or if it had just been a lucky guess on their part. They'd never even glanced in her direction during his apprehension, so she assumed they just got lucky.  
  
Her mind turned, as it often did, to the fate of the man who'd saved her life. What had happened to Agent Smith? Perhaps he was still alive and kicking out there somewhere, giving their enemies a good black eye. Perhaps he had been killed in one of the ACC's facilities. As sad as it was, she almost hoped for that. Having to live through one of those damnable facilities was the worst fate she could wish on someone.  
  
She looked up when the helicopter lowered toward the ground. Outside the window, she could see Moscow sprawling out in front of her. Her eyes went wide at the sheer number of troops that now scurried about the base. In only a week it looked like the base's troop count had almost tripled from where it had been before.  
  
As the chopper touched ground, she spotted Pam standing just off of the helipad. She had a wide smile on her face, of the kind Alison had never seen on her since joining WOOHP in the fight against the Zardexians, after the Reverend had been killed and it was safer for her to be out and about.  
  
The helicopter door opened and she stepped out, surprised to be wrapped up in a tight hug by her commanding officer.  
  
"I knew you wouldn't let me down Alison." Pam told her with an excited grin. "It's good to see your safe return."  
  
"There were no difficulties..." Alison looked nervously around at the large numbers of soldiers milling about the base they'd made on this side of the city. "What happened while I was gone?"  
  
"We won." Pam pulled back so she could give her a broad grin. "We defeated an entire squad of Zardexians... we repelled an attack." Alison blinked in surprise. "And now, humanity is pouring into this base to take back our world, and drive those scum off of our planet."  
  
"That's wonderful news, General." Alison grinned back, elated for the first time since she'd heard about the Reverend's death. And before that... she couldn't remember ever being really happy. "And I have more good news." Alison pulled away from her commander and turned to pull one of the boxes out of the helicopter. She turned back to Pam and opened the box.  
  
"The Faustium..." Pam reached into the box and pulled out one of the bottles to examine it.  
  
"It took us a while to bottle it and prep it for transport." Alison explained. "We would've been back faster if it wasn't for that."  
  
"Don't worry about it... we might not need them anyway, but it's good to have them just in case." Pam carefully placed the bottle back in the box and closed the lid. Alison handed the box to a nearby soldier, who rushed off to take it to the storage area they'd picked out before. "Frankly, I'm more relieved to have my second in command back."  
  
"Oh...?" Alison cocked one eyebrow. Pam looked around at the other soldiers who were watching them curiously.  
  
"Dismissed!" Pam shouted. The soldiers all saluted at once and scurried away from the helicopter, leaving the two women alone. Pam looked at Alison again and walked up to her, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll be brief... I've become attached to you." Alison watched her curiously. "And I would like your support. The more troops we get... it seems like... the lonelier I become." Pam shook her head. "Stupid, I know..."  
  
"No." Alison replied. "Life near the top is always the loneliest... trust me, I know..." She said.  
  
"Yes, that's true... and that's one reason I think I can depend on you." Pam told her. "Madison..."  
  
"My name's Alison..." Alison replied quickly. It was Pam's turn to look curious. "Madison was the daughter of a psycho who drove the planet into a downward spiral and opened us up to takeover by the worst menace mankind has ever known. I am Alison, second in command of your army." Pam stared at her for a few moments, then nodded solemnly.  
  
"I understand, Alison." Pam said. "Come, you've had a long mission, you deserve a little rest and relaxation." She turned to lead the purple-haired woman away from the transport helicopter, toward the building Alison had come to think of as her temporary home in the short time since they'd established this base. She walked inside to find that it looked exactly the same as before.  
  
"The fight is going well..." Alison muttered.  
  
"Yes, it is." Pam replied. "It's only a matter of time now before we overcome the Zardexian threat... it won't be easy, but I won't accept any other outcome."  
  
"As you shouldn't." Alison nodded in appreciation. Pam walked toward the couch, but before either of them could think of relaxing one of the other soldiers pushed the door open and rushed inside.  
  
"General, more troops have arrived to join our cause." He exclaimed. Pam sighed and turned back toward him.  
  
"I'll be along to test and question them in a moment." Pam told him. The soldier saluted and left, leaving the two women alone again. Pam let out a sigh and shook her head, walking up to Alison.  
  
"Things seem to have changed around here... you're taking in new recruits?" Alison asked.  
  
"A necessary step... but they're all well-tested to make sure there are no moles." Pam replied. "Come with me... I want you at my side when I test these newcomers."  
  
"Yes General." Alison nodded as Pam marched past her, out across the city. The purple-haired woman followed behind her, glancing around at the growing base around them. It had been relatively small when she'd left, but now it looked like it was bustling, with more and more people coming. Maybe Pam could do what no leader in history could... unite the human race.  
  
They approached the outskirts of the city and found several squadrons of soldiers standing at attention with armed guards around them. One woman who seemed to be the leader stood in front of the others. She had fiery red hair down past her waist with emerald green eyes watching them piercingly. She looked familiar for some reason... but Alison couldn't place her.  
  
"Wow... Sam..." Pam approached the red-haired woman with a curious look on her face. "I was wondering if you'd ever return to the cause you abandoned." She smirked. The redhead called Sam remained stone-faced. "I suppose the Zardexian toxin claimed Alex..."  
  
"We're here to help you fight... so just test us any way you want and get it over with." Sam smoothly avoided the question. The blonde on her right and the brunette on her left smirked and snickered to themselves.  
  
Pam reached down and pulled her gun, holding it up in front of the redhead. Sam stared at it fearfully. "You're lucky we can't afford to test the sure way... we need everyone in fighting condition from the start." Pam stated. She lowered the gun and raised her other arm, which now had a hypodermic needle in it. "Raise your arm, now."  
  
Sam raised her arm in front of her, displaying her wrist. Pam punched the needle into her forearm and withdrew a small amount of blood... glittering crimson blood. Pam nodded and withdrew the needle, looking up at Sam. "Proceed inside, and wait for us to test the others."  
  
"Fine." Sam turned to walk into the city, where more guards were waiting. Pam turned her attention to the raven-haired woman with strangely deep violet eyes.  
  
"You must be Alex's replacement." Pam smirked slightly and looked over at the blonde beside them. "I disapprove, Alex was much friendlier." The blonde growled, but the purple-eyed woman didn't respond. "Are you ready for your test, replacement of Alex?" Pam grabbed a different syringe and held it up in front of her.  
  
"Victoria..." The woman raised her arm in front of her. "And yes... I am." Pam lowered the needle toward her arm. Alison noted that the blonde was watching intently, her eyes a mask of nervousness and fear. Now that Alison paid attention, she looked rather pale. That was a lot of nervousness just at a simple blood test... something was wrong with these ones.  
  
The needle plunged into Victoria's arm. Both Victoria and the blonde woman at her side stared intently at the syringe as it slowly began to lift. Red liquid poured into it... human blood. Both women looked visibly relieved, though they quickly tried to hide it when Pam looked up at them.  
  
"Head into the base. They'll take care of you in there." Pam told her.  
  
"Yes ma'am." Victoria nodded and walked around her toward the base. Alison kept her gaze locked on the violet-eyed woman as she made her way into the city itself. There was something about her... they were far too nervous of a simple blood test. Could Pam have been right before? Had the Zardexians found a way to fake human blood?  
  
Alison looked around, and when she saw nobody looking her way, she slipped away from the crowd and followed Victoria inside the city. She kept a safe distance between them, but never let the woman out of her sight. The suspicious woman entered the city and made her way toward the recruitment counter, where Sam was busy dealing with one of the record-keepers behind the desk.  
  
Alison stopped and watched Victoria approach the redheaded former leader of WOOHP. Sam looked surprised to see her, and they spoke in a hurried manner, but Alison was too far away to hear what they were saying. She kept watching, but other than their somewhat furtive glances around they did nothing suspicious.  
  
"Is something wrong with my friends?" A voice demanded. Alison turned to see the blonde woman from before standing right behind her with her arms crossed over her chest. She had a vicious look in her eye.  
  
"Possibly." Alison replied simply. The blonde woman growled deep in her throat. "Remember that fraternizing with the enemy is punishable in the same manner as BEING the enemy..." The second-in-command glared back coolly. "And protecting the enemy... is even worse."  
  
"There are no enemies around here. We're all here for the same reason, regardless of other circumstances." She growled softly. Alison narrowed her eyes suspiciously, keeping them locked onto those sky-blue orbs. "So just leave her alone... she's no threat to you or anyone else."  
  
"We'll see about that..." Alison replied coldly. "Tell your friend to watch her step... if I discover that she has a secret there won't be a trial or a hearing."  
  
"Murder on suspicion? Are we really going to start learning from the Imperium of Christ?" The blonde asked. Alison's eyes narrowed dangerously, but she didn't respond before turning to walk back toward her General, who was still helping to test the new recruits. Desperate times called for desperate measures... and risks had to be kept to a minimum. That Victoria girl looked like she might be a risk... so Alison would just have to keep a very close eye on her.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	16. Building Paradise

Part 15: Building Paradise  
  
April 1st 2013 (I think that's the date. The days here are 26 hours long)  
  
Alexandria Navarro here, leader of the alien branch of humanity, writing on a bunch of leaves with a pine needle and tree sap. The plants around here are really weird, nothing at all like the ones back on Earth... or, the ones we USED to have back on Earth. I guess I should have expected this. We're on an alien planet, not in someone's backyard. Actually, I think we're adapting pretty well. We have several people here who were scientists before the Imperium's takeover, so we have a leg up on ancient people who wore animal skins and pounded each other over the head with giant clubs. They're still out looking at things actually.  
  
We're not THAT much better off though. The Argathins who brought us here left all of our personal belongings back on the ship that brought us to this planet, including my box of pictures and all of our clothes. And since there are no malls around here, we've had to go back to the basics... animal skins! Eeeewe... I'm all for a nice outfit, but only when I don't have to see the animal they come from. Especially when they're so scaly... ewe.  
  
Most people agree with me, either sticking to the clothes they had when they came here, or throwing their clothes aside completely. There was some fighting, but it eventually ended when they realized that there wasn't much choice. It was wear the skins, walk around naked, or walk around stinky. I really don't want to wear some poor animal's skin as clothes... but the idea of walking around naked isn't very appealing either.  
  
Maybe I'm just becoming an old fart, because Kira seems to be adapting pretty well to all of this. She was one of the first to volunteer for a skin that was carved off of a strange lizard-thing with tentacles and six eyes that looked like bright red Frisbees. It looked almost like a bug, but it was HUGE. But apparently it was weaker than it looked, because a couple spears through the eyes took it down. Unfortunately... or fortunately depending on your point of view... there wasn't enough meat in it to eat. I didn't really think it looked appetizing anyway.  
  
Speaking of food, we haven't found much to eat around here. We found a few things around here whose shells feel like Goddamn bowling balls, but have soft, chewy, pretty tasty centers. Those things comprise most of our current diet thanks to the ancient human art of smashing things against jagged rocks. And our water supply comes from a small stream we found close to our village...  
  
Hah, calling it that is such a joke.  
  
So far this "village" is composed of a bunch of bodies on the ground. We haven't found any materials to make tents, and it takes time to build cabins. There are only so many people around here, and right now everyone is focused on finding things to eat that we don't have to smash 20 times against a boulder first. Only a handful of people are working on the housing situation.  
  
Thank God or whoever that it doesn't get too cold at night. It doesn't get too hot in the day either... somehow it stays a pretty good temperature all day. That doesn't make it safe though, we ARE laying out in the wilderness after all. We're lucky there haven't been any animal attacks, but luck only lasts so long before it runs out.  
  
These leaves work pretty well, maybe I'll write some more later. It really helps give perspective on everything that's going on.  
  
Alexandria Navarro  
  
April 5th 2013  
  
Woohoo, we found an edible animal! It was a large... thing with... things on it that were covered in fur. I'd like to describe it in relation to animals on Earth, but there really is no comparison. So instead of that, we've named it a "Stinky" because it smells like crap. Once it's cooked over an open fire though it's really not that bad. It's filling and tastes a lot like beef. Served with a side of the Bowling-Ball fruit, it made for a decent meal.  
  
Plus its hide is a very comfortable, very warm skin. I actually don't mind wearing this one, especially since the boy who makes these things made it especially for me. He's such a sweetheart.  
  
Now that we have a decent food supply, production has begun in earnest on shelter from the wildlife. Those insects are becoming a real nuisance. It's like the first ones to find us called their friends, who called their friends, who called their friends, and who all keep coming at us in a giant massive wave. There isn't a person in this "village" who hasn't been bitten at least ten times.  
  
They're small little things too, and pretty good at getting under clothes. Especially those less covering clothes like the animal skins that more and more people are wearing. Kira has bites in places that no insect or animal should ever go. A few villagers who used to be scientists are looking for ointments in the local plants that might stop the itching, or a bug repellant, but at the moment we just have to suffer through it.  
  
I hope we get rid of these damn bugs soon... I just pulled two out from under my top. I REALLY don't want to get bitten anywhere that sensitive. Poor Kira's been moaning in pain since her bites... ick, she can barely walk. Oops, she's calling for me. Later.  
  
Alexandria Navarro  
  
April 8th 2013  
  
Hey, I found a cure for the bug bites. Apparently the tree sap I've been using to write this journal has pain-relieving effects. After my last entry I accidentally put my hand in my little sap-well, then scratched at one of the bites and it felt better. How come the answer to annoying problems is always right under your nose? Oh well, we're all relatively itch-free, and production on those much-needed huts are speeding along.  
  
Kira's been acting strange lately. After we realized the sap could help with the bites, she asked ME to put the sap on her bites. I thought it was just because I could see some of them better, but since I did it she's been giving me real strange looks.  
  
Kira's a pretty girl I guess... she's beautiful in fact. But I'm not sure if I'd want that kind of relationship with her. I've only ever slept with one woman, and that was the woman who touched my heart like nobody else, man or woman, could. Maybe it was a little bit born out of pity, maybe it was because I was amazed she was strong enough to live through what she did... but I still loved her like I can't love Kira.  
  
I should get to sleep early tonight. Maybe by morning everything will make sense again.  
  
Alexandria Navarro  
  
April 10th 2013  
  
Wow... I don't know what to say. They finished the first hut today and insisted that I move into it. Actually, they insisted that I ALONE take it, even though there's still upwards of fifty other people who have no shelter. I tried to refuse, but they threatened to lock me in if I didn't agree. So I agreed... on the condition that they let Kira move in with me.  
  
When did I become such a popular person? I feel like a movie star or a President or something. The strangest thing is, Kira didn't seem all that surprised when it happened. Am I the only one who never knew I was some kind of popular person here? Boy, I've gone through like a decade of war, and only now that I'm popular do I realize how much things have changed since my early High School days of being shoved behind soda machines.  
  
Not that I mind. They were careful to make the room bug-tight, so I can sleep annoyance-free, and I can change clothes... er... skins without doing it either in a bush or out in front of everybody. Of course, they didn't expect Kira to live here too, so there's only one bed... it's like the fates are conspiring against me or something.  
  
She's already asleep behind me actually. She took off her Slimy (that's what we decided to name that bug/lizard thing) skin and went to sleep on top of the pile of leaves on a frame that they call a bed. She's trying to tempt me I know it. Oh well, we're two mature women, we can sleep together without anything sexual happening.  
  
Overall things are looking up... but I wonder how Sam and Clover are doing? ............ Well, I should get some sleep.  
  
President Alexandria Navarro  
  
April 13th 2013  
  
We've been here for, like, three weeks now, and we're finally getting into a daily swing. Some people go hunt for food, others continue to work on the incomplete huts (though progress on those is picking up as they get more experience working on it), and others continue to fashion clothes, though by now everyone in the "village" is wearing the hide of some animal or other.  
  
I discovered a new fruit yesterday too. It looks like a worm, and it wriggles in the wind. It looked creepy, but I brought it back to the "village" anyway for the experts to take a look at it. They proclaimed it edible (after some human testing) and possibly nutritious. Combined with the Swanky that attacked me yesterday, our diet's growing all the time now.  
  
Speaking of attacking though, things aren't as peaceful as they used to be. It looks like the carnivores finally got wind of our presence here, and started wandering in at night. There were three attacks two nights ago... one fatal... a small girl named Jasmine. I knew it would happen eventually... this is a life-struggle, not a picnic, but still...  
  
Nothing like a good cry I guess... I'll end this here then.  
  
Alex  
  
April 17th 2013  
  
Kira is starting to get more forward... she told me yesterday that she thinks I'm attractive. I don't know what to do...  
  
Otherwise, the village is growing more and more civilized every day. Huts are practically springing up and we're finding more food and clothing sources almost every time we turn around. Some clever people even started fashioning some exceptionally large leaves into bikinis and shorts. We're well on our way to becoming a real village.  
  
But, the animal attacks are getting more frequent. Those of us who have huts seem to be safe, but those trapped outside are attacked on a nightly basis. For the time being me and everyone else who has them opened our huts to others, but there still aren't enough huts to house everybody yet. We'll just have to try to work faster and get everyone their own home.  
  
It's getting kind of overwhelming, having everyone looking to me as some kind of leader. Just because I made that speech in the beginning everyone thinks I know what I'm doing here? How am I supposed to know what we should do all the time? No wonder Sam decided to leave as the head of WOOHP for a while, I only have about 50 people looking up to me and it's getting overwhelming.  
  
Sam... she's still back on Earth, with Clover and everyone else, waiting for me to come back with serious firepower. I can't afford to wait much longer. Soon everything will be settled enough here for me to sneak away back to the Argathin settlement and find the weapons they need.  
  
But I can't just leave Kira without saying goodbye at least can I? I don't even know if I can talk to her, let alone tell her I'm leaving... possibly never to come back. Man... well, I'll wait a few more days to leave. Step back from my little role at the head of the village and make sure they can get along without me before I go fulfill my promise to Sam. Maybe by the time I leave I'll think of a way to deal with Kira too...  
  
Alexandria Navarro  
  
April 20th 2013  
  
Tonight's the night, the night I leave this village behind and see if I can steal weapons from a superior alien species and sneak back to Earth with them. That looks even more insane in print than it sounds in my head. Oh well, it's not like I can choose not to do it, stay here in peace with everyone else while Sam is counting on me to come back with enough weapons to stand up to the Zardexian army.  
  
It's strange. I can't help feeling a bit proud of myself right now. I know I probably didn't do much to make this village work, but looking back on everything that's been built and found so far fills me with a sense of pride. We all worked together to build this place... without any hatreds or differences getting in our way. Nobody cares about race or religion... just survival. Maybe that's how it should be.  
  
It sounds like Kira's asleep, and the suns are already down outside. It's about time for me to leave, and fulfill my promise. In a way, even if we succeed in liberating Earth, I hope I'll be able to come back. This simple life has really been growing on me... I'll miss it when it's gone. And something tells me it won't be like this on Earth, even after the alien invasions and everything. Humans can be so stupid and stubborn...  
  
I think I'll leave this little 'journal' (if you can call this pile of leaves that) here for Kira to find. I can't just vanish without a trace, but I can't bring myself to say goodbye either. Letting this thing say goodbye for me seems like the best alternative.  
  
Kira, by the time you find this, I should be on my way back to the Argathin city. I wish I could've stayed with you all... but I promised Sam I would keep fighting for the Earth, and I would never break a promise to her, even for paradise. So goodbye, and please, make sure the village keeps running smoothly after I leave. It'll make me feel a whole lot better to know that everyone here survives, even if I fail to save the Earth.  
  
Best wishes and love...  
  
Alexandria Navarro 


	17. Damned Conquest

Part 16: Damned Conquest  
  
April 1st 2013  
  
I remember doing this a long time ago, right about the time Clover found me at my worse-than-dead-end job at Bev High. I remember it really helping me to organize my thoughts... and well, my thoughts need a whole lot of organizing right now.  
  
I'm back to feeling like a cog in a wheel, just like back then. The only difference is that there is no Octavio... though that weird woman with the purple hair might as well be him. She hasn't done anything to me physically... Hell, she hasn't even talked to me... but every time I look in her direction I find her staring straight at me like she's getting ready to jump on me and rip my head right off my shoulders.  
  
Roll along little cogs... at least nobody's being beaten (that I know of) though Clover tells me there's just as much danger as there was under the Imperium of Christ if I'm discovered to have a Zardexian body. I guess I should expect that under an army that calls itself the "Imperium of Humanity". What a fucking joke that they consider themselves so morally superior to the Imperium that came before them when their policies are almost identical.  
  
I might be tempted to run away and join the Zardexian army if it wasn't for Clover. General Reynolds has us working at all hours of the day on various projects for the war, and we only get a few hours to sleep. So there's not much time for romance, but still, just working near Clover seems to help me clear my mind. Every so often I'll catch her eyes and wonder just what universal good fortune led me here after over a decade of loneliness.  
  
Puh... I sound like a cheesy romance novel. Who knew love actually made you feel like that? I'd be really disgusted at myself if I wasn't too busy being both content and pissed off at the exact same time. Happy with Clover, pissed at this Goddamn second Imperium that has me looking over my shoulder at all hours of the day. If I wanted to live like this I could've stayed in Beverly Hills with Octavio.  
  
Sam told me the other day that it's curious that the Ear Bleeder didn't work on the Zardexians themselves, just their technology. Hmmm... if that's true, does it mean I'M immune to the Ear Bleeder too? That's kind of a relief, but if anyone else finds out, I'll be completely screwed. Of course after that Sam went on a rant about how stupid it was to use the thing. I think that girl has some issues.  
  
But then, who doesn't these days?  
  
Ah, time to go work diligently for my new masters... er... I mean fight for the good of humanity.  
  
Mandy  
  
April 6th 2013  
  
Whew... only a few days and I've been involved in two battles against the Zardexians. Each one didn't last long, as the Ear Bleeder destroyed their technology, then the Leviathan... or as its come to be known, the Siren... took down all of the surviving Zardexian soldiers. We took heavy losses too though, and I got damn lucky I got out of the way before I was fried too during the second battle. But, more people flood in every day. It looks like General Reynolds just may be onto something with her approach. We're actually winning for the moment.  
  
Unfortunately, I haven't had much time alone with Clover. Those few times we are alone together we're both too damn tired to talk, let alone be romantic.  
  
We don't even get much to eat, and honestly, what I have been eating hasn't been all that filling. I still have energy and all, but my stomach feels like a black hole or something. Maybe I should start asking for bigger portions at dinner. People might complain, but I can barely sleep over the sound of my growling stomach.  
  
That purple-haired woman was following me around all day today. I finally found out from Sam that her name is Alison First, the second-in-command to General Reynolds. Fantastic, that's all I need, another high-ranking Imperial officer riding my ass. I swear deja-vu doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now. If it wasn't for our military successes and the threat of the Zardexian armada I'd try to overthrow THIS damn Imperium too.  
  
At least she hasn't tried to talk to me or accused me of anything yet, even though if what Clover said is true she probably suspects me of being a Zardexian. But if she does, why hasn't she turned me in by now? As if I WANT her to turn me in for some reason.  
  
Aw well, me and Clover are both still alive and kicking, and it doesn't look like that Alison broad plans to expose me, so I guess everything's still okay around here. As long as we keep winning.  
  
Mandy  
  
April 10th 2013  
  
Alison finally approached me to talk today. She didn't say a whole lot, she mostly just stared at me for a few minutes, then asked me a few question about Clover. I thought that was pretty strange... if she thinks I'm an alien, shouldn't she be asking CLOVER about ME? I'm officially getting creeped out here... what IS that woman up to?  
  
In other news, Sam's been looking nervous lately. She keeps staring up at the sky when she's supposed to be sleeping. Maybe she's wishing she joined those interstellar refugees Clover told me about. I know I probably would've gone with them if I'd been around to. But I'm stuck here, so I get to fight with a strange creepy freak staring at me.  
  
Ugh... my stomach's grumbling. They refused to give me bigger portions, and I think it's starting to take its toll on me. To make things worse I've been feeling nauseous for the last few hours. Maybe I'm catching something... well I did spend a few days sitting naked out in sub-zero temperatures, but why would it take so long to feel it?  
  
Ugh... whatever. I'm feeling sick so I'm gonna get going to bed early tonight. I'm glad that more people are showing up every day, so we don't have to work those twenty-hour shifts anymore.  
  
Mandy  
  
April 13th 2013  
  
Ow... ow... man, I screwed up pretty bad today. Me and Clover were assigned to load the weapons in preparation for an upcoming assault against a known Zardexian base... yes, we're finally going on the offensive! But while we were doing that my concentration slipped and I accidentally shot myself in the stomach. It hurts like a bitch... and worst of all, I was bleeding purple Zardexian blood. I am so lucky Clover got me back to the barracks unseen so she could clean me up.  
  
So I'm still safe I guess, and we confirmed that I'm at least a little bit bullet proof. It's weird that it bled though... with the Zardexians we fight bullets tend to do more bouncing off than hurting... but this one actually broke my skin and made me bleed. Maybe I'm more human than I thought? Or maybe there's some other factor I don't know about...  
  
But after we were safe Clover pointed out that my having purple blood again was a bad sign... and thinking about it, she's right. One little prick would expose me as the alien I am now. I need more human blood to be totally safe... but I can't just keep taking it from Clover, that could put her in serious danger too. So what am I supposed to do here?  
  
Alison hasn't talked to me again since that first time a few days ago, but she hasn't been following me around quite as much. Maybe she's finally starting to trust me? That would be one less concern to worry about... but there's still the chance she's planning something behind my back.  
  
Hmmm... I do need blood... perhaps...  
  
GAH! What the Hell am I thinking? Was I really going to suggest to myself that I kill Alison and drink all of her blood? What the Hell is wrong with me? I'm no murderer, I'm not about to kill someone whose only crime is trying to look after the well being of the human race! Even if they do it through many of the same methods the Imperium of Christ implemented...  
  
Geeze, I need some fresh air...  
  
Mandy  
  
April 17th 2013  
  
Uuuugh... I'm getting weaker by the day now. My arms are shaking even as I type out this journal entry. I'm sure everyone's noticed by now... the food they're giving me just isn't cutting it anymore. What the Hell is wrong with me? I'm getting really scared here... what if I have some Zardexian disease that there's no cure for?  
  
Okay, enough Mandy... positive thoughts... ummm...  
  
Oh! Clover and me finally found some alone time yesterday evening. I wasn't sure Clover would go for a second "date", but she surprised me by suggesting that very thing. For someone who was always so boy-crazy, she seemed pretty energetic with me now that she wasn't suffering from severe blood-loss. Even this morning she was in a good mood, jumping up and ready to go. I wonder why her sudden change of heart... I mean she said she kinda loved me back in Dämon-Mörder, but since then she seemed kind of distant. Huh...  
  
Why on Earth am I over thinking the only good thing to happen to me since coming back? Clover's consistently and vehemently fought for me this entire time, I shouldn't try to look for reasons to start distrusting her now.  
  
DAMN I'm hungry! Grrrr... okay, think other thoughts. Think of something else... something else... something else...  
  
Alison talked to me again yesterday too, actually that's why me and Clover found that alone time. She decided to give us both a few extra hours of rest... said something about me looking a little pale. I know I'm looking a little ragged these days (They don't FEED me enough!) but why would she give me time off if she thinks I'm an alien? She's just confusing me... she's been nothing but nice to me so far now that I think about it.  
  
MAN I'm HUUUNGRY! I'm about ready to eat human flesh if it'll fill this gaping hole in my stomach. I feel like one of those zombies from a video game or something. Maybe Clover'll give me some of her food tomorrow.  
  
Braaaiiiins...  
  
Mandy  
  
April 22nd 2013  
  
Oh man, so much happened in the last few days. I have no idea where to begin. Hmm... I guess I should go in order.  
  
Sam's unit (in which me and Clover are officers) was ordered to go with General Reynolds and the Siren to Switzerland to attack a Zardexian convoy that was apparently on their way to attack Moscow. We landed a little after daybreak, when the sun was just coming up. The Zardexian ships were just sitting on the ground... we should've known something was up. It was the first time we've ever seen them sitting idle like that.  
  
The little death-balls ambushed us! Most of us didn't even have time to put on our Sensible Soundproof Earplugs. They just came at us from the sides, and the ships lifted off from the ground to attack from the front. I didn't hear anything, but General Reynolds must have activated the Ear Bleeder, because half of the troop (those who didn't get their Earplugs on in time) doubled over screaming.  
  
Including Clover and Sam.  
  
I rushed to put their Earplugs on, but I forgot to get mine on too. I saved them from going deaf (or worse), but I couldn't really go around putting EVERYONE'S plugs on. The ships were taken down by the Ear Bleeder, but the Zardexians kept coming from all sides. The Siren was swarmed, and all around me people were slaughtered left and right.  
  
But General Reynolds... the crazy bitch... had a plan. The Siren was electrified, and nothing could touch it without being fried. That... damned thing started rampaging across the battlefield, blasting and stepping on anything that moved. Worse still, she still had the Ear Bleeder on, or so I guess from watching most soldiers still clutching at their ears.  
  
I ran for the Leviathan to try to tell General Reynolds to shut the damn thing down, but a Zardexian got between me and it. I tried to get away, but it grabbed me around the waist and lifted me off the ground. I thought it would eat me... but it stopped. I'm still not sure if I was hallucinating... if maybe the stress got to me, but I swear I heard it talk. One word...  
  
"Zeninia."  
  
Of course the General HAD to blow it up right then. I wonder what that word means... is it a Zardexian greeting? A swear word? What? Or maybe a name... my name, perhaps?  
  
Nah, it doesn't seem right. I'm Mandy. That's that.  
  
After that I made my way back to Sam and Clover and dragged them away from the field of fire, since they were still stunned from the blast of the Ear Bleeder. All I could do was drag them into a small ditch I found while the Siren tangled with the Zardexians. I don't know why the General brought us along... the Siren alone is all she needs. Does she enjoy the feeling of power from watching the rest of us die?  
  
Finally the fighting stopped, and I pulled Clover and Sam out of the ditch. It smelled horrible... the bodies that lay all around me were unbearable. Human and alien alike... barely anyone had survived the onslaught of the Siren. Though those that did were all human... and dazed.  
  
I don't know if anyone noticed that I never had my Earplugs on... but nobody's said anything so far. Alison though has been giving me a wide berth, and more strange looks. Clover and Sam recovered a few days later from the effects of the Ear Bleeder, and by now can both hear perfectly well again.  
  
I really don't think I should write this... but I found a way to solve one of my problems. There were a lot of bodies lying around the field, and... well... bodies have blood. I volunteered for the battlefield cleanup crew after it was over... and managed to sneak some blood away from the area. It should be enough to keep my blood red and human for a few days at least. If Clover asks how I did it... I'll say it's a Zardexian trick.  
  
That doesn't do much for my growling stomach though. It seems like it'll never stop. I don't even know what I'm hungry for. Clover gave me some of her food before we left on that assault mission, and it didn't help in the slightest.  
  
Oh well... almost losing Clover during that battle makes feeling a bit hungry look like a stupid complaint. I guess it's a lesson to be more thankful for what I've got than angry about what I don't have.  
  
Mandy  
  
April 27th 2013  
  
Hehehehehehehehehe... it's not really that funny, but I can't stop laughing. After all that fighting we've been doing. All those victories we've racked up over the last few weeks. All that worrying I did over Clover's well-being, and that damn Alison woman figuring out I'm an alien... none of it fucking mattered. We're all going to be flattened soon anyway, the Siren won't be able to help us any longer after this.  
  
Hmm... I wonder if me and Clover could disappear somewhere. There are still pockets of civilians in some cities around the world, though most of them are crazier than our esteemed General. Nah, Clover wouldn't agree to that. Besides, I wouldn't feel right. I guess I get to just sit here with everyone else waiting to "fight", but really just waiting to die at this point.  
  
Damn, I can see the shadow now outside my window. It's moving across the entire city, it doesn't seem like there's any light left out there. I should go find Clover now, the least I want to do is die with her...  
  
The main fleet of the Zardexian armada has finally arrived... so I guess this is my last journal entry. Goodbye cruel world for the second time. I wish I could say it was fun... but the truth is, I fucking hate this place anyway.  
  
Amanda Victoria Delaroyale 


	18. A Mission of Desperation

Part 17: A Mission of Desperation  
  
Alex stood atop that small hill just outside the village that she'd worked so hard to help build over the last few weeks. The single moon was high in the sky, casting a strangely silver light across the collection of huts before her. The village was surrounded by thick forest on all sides, with the small stream flowing serenely across one side. It looked like an ideal, peaceful place for them to live... and indeed it was. But she couldn't afford to stay.  
  
With a wistful sigh she turned toward the north, where she remembered the Argathin city being located, and set off through the trees. She clutched a makeshift staff/spear in one hand, using it to help her walk. By now her leg had healed enough to let her move freely, but it still wasn't quite as strong as it should have been. She also had a backpack made of Swanky skin, in which she carried some food for her journey.  
  
The grass on the ground felt pretty good between her bare toes. She wore a loose-fitting top that spread out across her shoulders and down across her chest, but stopped above her stomach. On the bottom she wore a simple skirt that wrapped around her thighs tightly at the top, but more loosely as it went down to her knees, to afford her plenty of mobility.  
  
She moved silently through the forest for several hours, stepping carefully through bushes and needles that swayed in the wind all around her. The wind felt unusually chilly against her bare skin.  
  
"Ugh... I guess Winter's coming on this planet or something..." Alex mused to herself as she continued to move through the darkness. She stopped suddenly when she heard a tree branch snap above her. "Who's there!? What's there!?" Alex raised her staff above her head, trying to peer into the thick foliage. But nothing else moved in the darkness.  
  
"Hmph... scaredy-cat..." Alex mocked the darkness to cover to own shivering knees. She turned to continue her trek toward the north, digging the staff into the soft Earth to help her shaking knees keep their balance.  
  
She heard another soft rustle above her, unmistakable this time. She whirled again and raised the staff above her head, trying to peer into the foliage above her.  
  
"I know you're up there! Either show yourself or get lost!" Alex demanded forcefully. She stopped when she heard a soft clicking sound from right behind her, so close she could feel the wind of something breathing on her neck. She looked over her shoulder slowly, and her heart stopped in shock. A snakelike creature with a frill around its throat and small claws was holding itself up behind her. Pitch-black pools existed where its eyes should have, and a pair of wings each as large as her spread from its scaled back.  
  
A hideous screech erupted as it opened its disjointed jaws, revealing several rows of razor sharp teeth leading up to a pair of two inch long fangs at the front. Alex let out a piercing scream and charged away from it, with her senses blacking out from the sheer panic that overwhelmed her. The spear was still clutched in her hand as she weaved through the trees.  
  
Suddenly she emerged from the forest and went face first into a stream. She pushed herself up and whirled again, scrambling away from the forest, but the creature that had been chasing her was gone. She slowly climbed to her feet on shivering limbs, clutching the spear tightly in both hands, but she still didn't see any sign of her pursuer.  
  
"Y... yeah... that's right you snake!" Alex shouted. "You better run!" She gulped and looked around, watching for the beast and trying to find her way north again. Looking up, she saw the red sun beginning to rise over the western horizon. The yellow would follow soon in the east... which meant the river she was standing in was flowing south. She could just follow it upstream.  
  
First though, she walked to the shore and saw down to have a quick breakfast. Thankfully the skin her food was wrapped in was waterproof, so she didn't have to worry about that. She did keep a sharp eye out for any other movement near the stream though. Her heart was still racing like a hummingbird's.  
  
When she finished eating she packed up the rest of her food and set off upstream, walking in the middle of the calve-deep stream. The water was crystal clear, she could even see tiny fish scattering as she moved toward them. She knelt down occasionally to take a sip of the clean, pure water. It tasted wonderful, better than any that had remained back on Earth.  
  
She jumped in surprise when she accidentally scooped up a small frog-like creature along with the water. Its four beady eyes stared up at her steadily. "Oops, sorry... here you go little guy." Alex set the creature on a small rock in the middle of the stream, watching it curiously. It just stared up at her, unblinking and unmoving.  
  
Nervously Alex stood up straight and decided to move on, leaving the tiny creature alone on its rock. The suns had reached their zenith by now, with the yellow one hidden behind the red, giving the sky an almost frightening orange hue. Alex was used to that after living here for so long though, so she paid it no mind. Actually it looked rather beautiful glinting off the water.  
  
She walked until the suns reached the horizons before she moved to one of the shores and laid down to rest. A massive yawn escaped her throat after remaining awake for two days straight. So she settled down on the grass to rest, eating a quick dinner, then using her food sack as a pillow for the night. She was afraid she would be attacked, but she had to sleep and there was no safer place around.  
  
She made it to morning, had a quick breakfast, then set off up the stream again. She moved at a quicker pace, rejuvenated by the deep sleep she'd enjoyed and emboldened by the cool breeze that swept over her. Winter for this planet must have been approaching, it felt cooler than it had even at night back in the village.  
  
She looked idly around at the peaceful forest, enjoying what felt like a leisurely stroll when she suddenly looked down. She stopped in mid stride with her foot just an inch above the water when she saw an ominous black shape just under the water, right beneath her foot. It looked fairly inconspicuous, rather like a ring of stones pointing upward like a strange bear trap, but it was given away by the dark pools of its eyes and the dark body that surrounded it. Now that she looked, she saw it moving, breathing and writhing as though itching to snap her foot right off.  
  
Alex gulped and slowly raised her spear over her head. The creature's mouth twitched, waiting for her to bring her foot down. Alex raised her foot, prompting the thing to lunge itself out of the water with a warbling shriek. Alex brought her spear down straight inside its mouth, impaling it against the rock bed underneath.  
  
"Whew... that was too close..." Alex panted, watching the creature scream and struggle until it finally went limp. "I've got to start watching where I'm going." She stood up straight and pushed the dead creature off her spear before resuming her trek, keeping a closer eye on her surroundings and especially where she was walking.  
  
She made it to nightfall, when she ate some dinner and settled down on the grass beside the stream again to rest. The following morning she ate breakfast and continued on her way. Around midday she caught sight of a shining glint in the sky over the horizon... it looked like the light of the two suns mingling on a piece of glass... the Argathin city. It was finally coming into view. But it would still be at least a few days before she reached it.  
  
More animals appeared before the night fell once again. A few beautiful birds flew overhead, with feathers that shined bright gold in the light of the two suns, almost bright enough to blind her. She caught sight of a small mammal as well, a tiny thing that looked suspiciously like a Duck-Billed Platypus from Earth. She always thought there was something strange about those things.  
  
Her trek continued with few interruptions for the next few days. She encountered a countless number of wondrous new creatures, but she couldn't afford to stop and appreciate them for long. Especially since a few decided she looked pretty tasty and tried to eat her. The food she'd brought was running low. Hopefully she would be able to get some food from the Argathin city in addition to weapons, or she'd never live through the trip back to Earth.  
  
At last, in the afternoon of the fifth day of her trek, she approached the outside of the massive Argathin city, covered completely in a mirrored glass that made it almost blinding in the bright light of the suns. Alex stopped in front of the wall and looked around for a way in, but she couldn't find anything that looked like a door.  
  
"Hmmm... they've got to get in and out aside from those hangars up there don't they?" Alex looked up the side of the glass building at the massive hangar doors that were built into the side miles above the Earth. "I guess I could climb... but this IS glass, they could see me. I'd might as well just break through a window with a really big stick and say a beaver did it..."  
  
Alex looked down at her spear, then at the piece of glass in front of her. "Well, here goes nothing." She lifted the spear above her head, clutching it in both hands tightly as she brought it forward, slamming the tip into the glass wall. The glass shattered with surprising ease for being made by a race that was once under siege by an alien menace. But Alex wasn't about to question her good luck.  
  
She charged into the empty room and flattened herself against the wall by the door just before the door slid open, letting a small group of Argathins run into the room right past her, chattering to each other in their own language.  
  
Alex slipped past them into the hallway, leaving her spear sitting in the floor. She looked furiously for a hiding place, and spotted a vent in the roof. "Even aliens need air..." She ran at the wall and used it to leap up to the vent, knocking it aside so she could crawl up into the small shaft and put the grate back in place.  
  
She hunkered down and remained silent, watching from the shadows as the aliens ran back into the hall and looked around for the source of the noise. They chattered to each other in rushed tones, then split up in different directions. "Now, to find a map or something to get around this place. It's too big to just wander around."  
  
Alex crawled through the vent, looking through each grate she came to. It was mostly blank hallways, but finally she came to what looked like a rec room where aliens were sitting around talking with each other in companionable tones. She could see a map of the city plastered against the wall... in fact, it took up the entire wall. It would help, but how to clear the area...  
  
She backed up further down the vent and slammed her feet into one of the grates in the hall. It fell to the floor with a loud clatter, and the aliens from the rec room ran out to investigate. Quickly Alex crawled back toward the map and opened a grate, hanging upside down in front of the map by her knees to get a good look at it.  
  
"Kitchen... kitchen... what the Hell does it look like!?" Alex whispered furiously to herself. The map was written in a language she couldn't understand, but the symbols were fairly self-explanatory. She found a symbol of what looked like a fork over one of the larger rooms. There was a box around it and other rooms, with a strange symbol displayed above the box. "Must be a sector or something... and it looks like it's on the four-hundred fifty-second floor."  
  
Suddenly the sound of the rec room door sliding open sounded behind her. She quickly pulled herself back up into the vent and slid the grate back into place as the Argathins walked into the room, looking at each other instead of at her. She crept away from the room, examining the hallways through the grates for anything that looked like the turbolift things they'd been using on the space ship.  
  
She finally found one, and waited for a pair of Argathins to exit before hopping down from the vent and darting inside just before it automatically closed. She pressed the symbol on the control panel that matched the one she'd seen near the kitchen on the map, and inserted the number '452' into the number pad next to it.  
  
The lift moved with surprising speed, jerking Alex around inside as it flew across the massive building toward the desired coordinates. Alex finally got her footing steady as the lift finally began to slow after a pretty long ride. The doors opened and she moved to exit, but she lunged back in when she saw two Argathins walking toward the lift.  
  
She flattened herself against the wall beside the door as the two aliens walked in, making googly eyes at each other and holding hands. She slipped through the door just before it closed, leaving the two kissing aliens inside without her. "That's sweet..." Alex allowed herself a moment to appreciate the sight of love before running up the wall again to the vent above her and sliding inside of it.  
  
She crept the direction she remembered the kitchen being, and sure enough she soon looked through a grate to see a big empty room with burners and pans of all kind scattered around with shelves lining the walls. It looked like the room was empty, so Alex slid down with a soft plop as her bare feet hit the floor. She ran to the shelves and flung them open.  
  
"Yuck... it looks like dog food." She stuck her tongue out as she saw a row of cans with different pictures on them. "Aw well... guess I can't be picky." She took off her animal-skin backpack and started throwing random cans into it alongside the fruit she had left from the village. When she had enough she closed it again and flipped it back across her shoulders.  
  
Suddenly the doors that led into the kitchen slid open. "Damnit!" Alex hissed as she dove behind one of the sinks. She heard two sets of footsteps moving through the kitchen, as two aliens talked in their native language with companionable tones. They stopped when the legs reached the edge of the sink and caught sight of the open cabinet.  
  
Alex turned to slide across the floor toward the open door while the voices picked up behind her. She slid out into the hall on all fours, looking around to make sure nobody was approaching before racing down the hall to the right. She slipped into the doorframe of another door, leaning against the wall. "I need to find another map..." She muttered. She could've just checked the first map for everything she needed if she'd been thinking at the time. Aw well.  
  
Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when the door right beside her opened and a small looking Argathin bumped into her side. She was half the size of the rest, and had on a small blue uniform similar to the ones the rest wore. It looked up at Alex in surprise, its eyes going wide. It looked like it was going to scream, so Alex grabbed it and darted into the room, pressing the panel to close the door behind them.  
  
"Ssssshhhhhh!" Alex hissed, holding the little alien's mouth shut with one hand while holding her arms with the other. The little one was squirming in panic. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise!" Alex hissed. "Just calm down and be quiet... please!" The little one nodded fearfully, the muffled cries quieting down. At least it spoke English like the adults.  
  
Alex waited until the footsteps from the adults outside the door left before whispering to the child again. "I'm going to let go of your mouth... I just want to talk, I promise. I need you to not scream though... can you promise me you won't scream?" She asked. The little alien nodded again, though its eyes were pretty wide. Alex moved her hand slowly, and as promised the child didn't scream.  
  
"Good... uh... kid." Alex said, not knowing the child's gender. "I need you to tell me where the weapons storage room in this city is."  
  
"I don't know..." The child replied. Alex cursed at herself. Of course a child wouldn't know off-hand.  
  
"Do you know where the nearest map is, so I can check?" Alex asked.  
  
"Th... that way." The kid pointed toward the right. "Four rooms down on the right..." Its voice was shaking, but it wasn't making any move to resist her.  
  
"Thanks a bunch kid..." Alex paused. She knew where to find a map... but what about the child? It would probably call for help the second she left, and if it told the adults that it was a human sneaking through their city, they might retaliate against the village even if they didn't manage to catch Alex. She couldn't just let the kid go...  
  
But what else was she going to do? Was she seriously considering hurting a young child just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? What kind of monster did she think she was?  
  
... One without a choice.  
  
Alex gulped as she reached toward the bed and grabbed a pillow, clutching it tightly in one hand with her other arm still wrapped around the child's small body. The child gulped. "C... can I go now?" It asked with a fear-tinged voice. Alex breathed deeply, trying to ready herself for what she had to do... everyone in the village depended on her. It was too great a risk not to.  
  
The kid was growing more panicked by the moment. "P... please... don't hurt me..." It begged. Alex could feel the kid's tears falling onto her arm. Alex began to cry softly herself, trying to will her arm around. One swift motion... hold it for just a few minutes, and it would be done. That was all it would take to make sure her village stayed safe...  
  
Her arm shook violently... and her cheeks were wet with already shed tears. She could hear the child sobbing in fear, its little body shaking from the force of its crying. Alex closed her eyes and remembered everything she'd gone through and seen in the last ten years... the torture, the hatred... the killing... the nuclear warhead flying right over her head on its way to annihilate an entire city. She remembered Mandy sounding so broken... her spirit crushed. The Argathins had the power to do all this too... if they had reason to... they would do it to Kira...  
  
Alex opened her eyes again to find that it was already done. Her arms held tightly to the small, limp form with the pillow pressed against its face. She felt completely numb as she lowered the child to the floor gently, laying it face down so she wouldn't have to see its face. "I'm... I'm sorry..." She told it gently, though she knew it didn't help.  
  
She knelt down by the little body for a few moments, taking in the gravity of what she'd done before she made herself climb to her feet. She had a promise to keep... Sam needed her now. She found a grate in the ceiling and jumped up to it, crawling through the vent in the direction the kid had indicated before. She didn't feel anything... she didn't even seem to feel the cold steel around her. She was just acting on what she knew had to be done.  
  
She found the promised map, with no Argathins anywhere in sight. She dropped down, got the coordinates of both the weapons storage room and the hangar, and slipped back into the vent to head back to the turbolift that had brought her there. She waited until the coast was clear before slipping down and darting into the lift to insert the coordinates of the weapons facility.  
  
She waited for the lift to reach its destination before slipping out into the hall and climbing back into the vents again. She slipped through the building, and soon found a room with two armed guards standing in front of it. That would be the weapons facility... so she carefully crawled over their heads into the room beyond them.  
  
It looked like it was empty, so she opened the grate and slipped into the room, landing lightly on the metal floor. All around her she could see shelves stacked with various kinds of weapons. It looked they all ran off of similar energy that the Zardexians weapons used... which meant they were useless. Energy weapons hadn't worked against the Rev after he was revealed any more than the bullets had since. She needed something bigger.  
  
So she walked around the room, surveying the different types of weapons that were sitting on the shelves. Some were bigger than others, and finally she found a collection of cannons the size of her arm that looked like they would create a decent sized hole in anything they hit. She could just take one back to Earth, and let the scientists there figure out how to duplicate it.  
  
She grabbed it off the wall and slung it over her shoulder by the strap that made it easier to carry. She turned to leave, but she stopped when she saw a row of vials on the wall alongside some of the smaller weapons. She couldn't read their labels, but they had pictures of the Zardexians on them... and they were filled with disgusting brown liquid.  
  
"The anti-toxin..." Alex approached the vials and picked up a handful. Sam had told her to find some of this too. So she stuffed a dozen or so vials into her sack and stood up straight, hefting both her bag and the cannon over her shoulders with some difficulty.  
  
She jumped up to the vent and climbed back in, but the added bulk of the cannon and her full bag made maneuvering even more difficult than it was when she first got here. She pulled herself carefully through the vents, thankful that there was a hangar near the weapons facility.  
  
Indeed there was... but it was swarming with Argathins tuning and repairing the large golden ships for space travel. She crept through the vents above the hangar, but there was nowhere to drop down without being seen by someone, and that was something she wanted to avoid at all costs...  
  
She listened to the aliens chattering in their own language as they worked on the ships. There had to be some way to get them out of there long enough for her to snag a ship... and she didn't think dropping a vent outside of the room would do it this time. If only she knew how to trigger an alarm... maybe she could lure them out...  
  
"Hmmm..." Alex crawled through the vent toward the outside hallway, making it a ways out before she pried the vent up. She pulled the pulse cannon off of her shoulder and aimed it down at the hall, looking through the sight and turning a few dials to make sure she knew how it worked. It would definitely get some attention, and let her make sure she got the right weapon too.  
  
She fiddled with the dials until she found a setting that looked promising and fired at the floor of the hallway. A pulse of blue energy exploded from the barrel of the cannon and slammed into the floor with a thunderous explosion. The floor cracked under the force of the blast and fell into the floor below with a thunderous crash. It seemed like the sound of metal slamming into metal would never stop.  
  
Alex whistled. "Right weapon..." She fell silent when she heard the Argathins approaching. She slung the cannon back over her shoulder and crawled back toward the hangar, which was now completely empty. She opened a vent and dropped down, using the side of one ship to slide down safely, then took off toward one of the other glowing golden vessels that were parked along the wall.  
  
She ran inside and found one of the lifts to take her up to the bridge, quickly running to the control panel in front of the main window. She could see that the hangar was still empty for the moment. So she set about searching for the ignition system... which was a bit harder to find than the steering wheel that served as the control system.  
  
"On button, on button..." Alex muttered frantically, searching for any sign of an ignition. Outside the window she could see the Argathins beginning to pile back into the hangar bay. She bit her lip and started pushing buttons at random, watching the Argathins as they found the open vent in the middle of the hangar. "Turn on already..."  
  
"Agh!" Alex lurched over the control panel as the ship suddenly lurched into the air. "Got it!" She turned the ship toward the hangar doors and moved toward them. The doors were still shut however, and she had no idea how to use the ship's weapons. "Buttons worked before..." Alex slammed her palm down on the control panel quickly.  
  
No weapons fired... but the ship did charge forward and break straight through the wall, streaking out into the sky like a golden bullet, Alex slammed into the control panel on impact, groaning in pain as she flew out over the forest outside of the city. "Ugh... it worked..." She grunted painfully. She gripped the wheel and pulled it back to send the ship up into the atmosphere, away from the planet that had become her home.  
  
Alex sighed and rubbed her stomach tenderly as she sky outside the front window gave way to stars. Nobody had seen who she was, so the village should stay safe... well... nobody alive had seen her anyway. She tried to push the memory of the child's frightened cries out of her mind. She did what she had to... she wasn't proud of it, but these days survival wasn't a friendly game.  
  
"Huh...?" Alex looked aside in surprise when she heard a strange sound tickle the back of her mind. She saw the purple essence that had paced them during their trip to the Argathin home world, flying through the stars beside her like a graceful whale. Alex stared at it as she slowly dropped the cannon and her food sack to the floor. She quickly searched for the autopilot on the ship and set it to head toward Earth.  
  
She walked over to the window and stared out at the flowing violet essence, pacing the ship with an unnaturally serene grace. "Mandy... I know that's you..." Alex said softly, placing her hand on the window. She smiled as the essence moved toward the window, a sliver of the shining energy moving to touch her palm through the window, tracing it perfectly.  
  
"We'll get to spend a some time together for a while..." Alex said softly. "I'm not sure what you are now... but I'm glad I'm not alone out here." Alex smiled and pressed her cheek against the glass. The violet essence formed around her cheek. It felt surprisingly warm against her skin, sending a warm, tender feeling rushing through her body.  
  
Alex smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth enveloping every fiber in her body. It'd be a long trip back to Earth... but she didn't care one bit.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	19. Two Hearts Within

Part 18: Two Hearts Within  
  
Shining red destruction rained from the skies, plowing into the Earth with enough force to shatter the pavement, sending thick plumes of dirt and debris flying hundreds of feet into the air. It was impossible to see through the obscuring cloud, only the light of the crimson rays cut through smoke. The pieces of the Ear Bleeder and the Leviathan littered the ground, the first targets of the massive alien warship that had stepped in to take care of them where the scouts had failed.  
  
Mandy charged through the smoke, crawling through the debris of buildings and the street itself. "Clover! Where the Hell did you go!?" She shouted worriedly through the smoke. She could hear the lasers punching through the ground just behind her, so she leapt over a pile of rubble and ran as fast as she could in the other direction.  
  
She stopped suddenly, smelling something strange. It was like nothing she remembered smelling before... but somehow it was alluring. It smelled sweet, as though someone had taken the most pleasant scents on Earth and combined them into one magnificent fragrance. "What is that... smell...?" She sniffed around the air, ignoring the dirt and smoke as she followed the wonderful scent.  
  
The sounds faded behind her somewhat as she moved through the blasted and destroyed city, even though her visibility was cut almost to zero by the thick smoke. Finally she climbed to the top of a pile of debris and caught sight of Clover on her knees with a pained look on her face. "Clover!" Mandy slid down the other side of the debris.  
  
"Zeninia." A voice said from behind Clover. Mandy gasped and put her fists up as the smoke behind Clover began to clear, revealing a handsome man with jet black hair and rippling muscles. The fingers of his right hand were embedded in Clover's shoulder. "It's so good to see you again... we had no clue what happened to you after the accident."  
  
"What the Hell are you talking about?" Mandy asked, forgetting about the wonderful smell. "Who are you? You know what... I don't care. Just let Clover go." The man who held Clover looked genuinely surprised, his eyes going wide.  
  
"You don't remember..." He muttered worriedly. "That's... troubling. Something must've interrupted the genetic and memory alteration procedure..." He trailed off, though he never took his eyes off of her.  
  
"I'm not even going to count. Let her go, or I'll kill you. It's that simple." Mandy demanded. The man smirked and shoved his hand deeper into Clover's shoulder, drawing a strangled cry of pain out of the blonde woman.  
  
"It doesn't really matter if I let her go or not... she's as good as dead." The man replied. "You shouldn't care about her anyway Zeninia. You aren't like her... you must remember something. Try to remember."  
  
"Shut up!" Mandy lunged forward, bringing one of her fists up behind her head. The man shoved Clover aside and moved to grab her fist, but her punch went straight through his hand and slammed into his face, knocking him back against one of the bigger piles of debris. The man shook his head, stunned and confused as Mandy stood over him with her fists clenched.  
  
"Such strength... Zeninia, what happened to you?" He asked in awe.  
  
"Stop calling me that!" Mandy punched downward, but her target rolled out of the way at the last moment. She cracked a cement block in half, then whirled to chase him through the dust-covered battlefield. "Get back here, Zardexian murderer!" Mandy leapt through the air and landed on his back, punching him in the back of the neck.  
  
The man collapsed to the ground, then quickly climbed to his feet again only to be grabbed and hurled against another pile of debris by Mandy. Mandy charged up to him and punched him in the face, straddling his waist and bringing down a hailstorm of strikes. The man tried to defend himself, but she easily knocked his arms aside and continued her pummeling.  
  
"Zeninia, STOP!" Suddenly she was no longer on top of a human man, but a giant ball of flesh, surrounded by writhing tentacles. They wrapped around her arms and waist, hefting her up into the air. Mandy struggled and almost broke free, but the Zardexian hurled her to the side so hard that her body was embedded in a pile of broken cement shards.  
  
"Urgh..." Mandy grunted and pushed herself up slightly, ready to fight off this menace, but the Zardexian didn't attack her.  
  
To her surprise, the Zardexian spoke in a language she could understand, but wasn't English. "I don't know what happened to you, my love. But I will bring you back... I swear it." Mandy stared at it until it turned to roll away through the mist, vanishing within seconds. She raven-haired woman climbed to her feet, shaking from pain and confusion. Why would it call her 'my love'?  
  
Her eyes widened when she noticed the sweet smell again. "Clover!" She whirled and ran back toward the smell, eventually finding Clover lying on the ground facedown, shivering in pain. "Clover... are you okay?" Mandy knelt down beside her and put her hands on her waist to help her rise to her hands and knees. Mandy slipped her camouflage jacket off, wrapping it up to use as a bandage.  
  
"I've... been better..." Clover replied painfully. Mandy helped her sit up so she could press the jacket against her shoulder to stifle the flow of blood. "Thanks for getting rid of that... thing." Clover muttered. "I'm not sure how you found me."  
  
"Well, it helped that you're wearing a new perfume. I love it." Mandy replied. Clover blinked and looked over at her.  
  
"What perfume?" She asked.  
  
"I don't know what it is, but it was like I couldn't stay away." Mandy told her. Clover blinked and craned her neck to look at her shoulder, then closed her eyes and lowered her head to her chest. "What's wrong Clover?"  
  
"Nothing..." Clover pushed herself up to her feet dizzily. Mandy stood up with her. "We've got to find Sam and get out of here, there's no way we can fight back like this." She stated. Mandy nodded and looked around.  
  
"I don't see how we can find anything around here." Mandy commented. The sounds of battle had faded, but the dirt and smoke cover was still hovering in the air, and would for a while.  
  
"Come on, I was with the others when the attack started. They were heading this way." Clover grabbed her hand and marched through the thick smoke purposefully. Mandy followed after her, watching her worriedly. Clover's face was a cold mask, but she could see in the blonde woman's eyes that something was seriously wrong.  
  
They marched through the thick dust. It was almost like they were lost in their own little bubble world, with reality taking place somewhere apart from them outside the bubble. Even the sunlight didn't make it through the voluminous smoke, and Mandy couldn't see any sign of the massive Zardexian warship that had begun this assault.  
  
Finally the large command center loomed out of the smoke in front of them, though the door was slightly ajar. Clover and Mandy exchanged a glance before creeping up to the building and pushing the door open. The main control center was empty, save for a few puddles of blood scattered around the floor in random places.  
  
"No... Sammy..." Clover stumbled up to one of the blood puddles and dropped to her knees. "They... they must've eaten her..." She lowered her head as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "I thought I would be able to lean on you no matter what happened..."  
  
"Who says you can't?" A voice replied from a nearby hallway. Mandy and Clover both whirled to see Sam leaning against the wall with her hand draped over her stomach. Alison was standing behind her, holding a small wound on her bicep. Mandy was surprised to realize that both Sam and Alison smelled just like Clover, the same sweet, attractive scent.  
  
"Sam! You're alive!" Clover rushed over to her and wrapped her arms around her tightly. "How did you survive!?"  
  
"I don't know... one of the Zardexians was coming after us when it just suddenly left." Sam replied. "It had us cornered and everything. I don't know what happened." She said. Mandy remained silent. She believed she knew generally why the Zardexians had called off their attack so suddenly... but all over her? It didn't make sense. Was she someone important to them?  
  
"Well whatever, as long as they're gone we can get out of here and go hide somewhere... under the ocean." Clover gave her redheaded friend a meaningful glance. Sam gulped and nodded with a sad smile.  
  
"Under the ocean?" Mandy asked. The other three women looked at her, but Sam and Clover lowered their gazes to the floor.  
  
"How can you know so little about the Zardexians?" Alison smirked. "Once they break your skin with their tentacles, you're infected with a toxin that causes your body to emit special pheromones they can sense... and slowly spreads sedatives through the body until it stops the body completely." She said. Mandy blinked in surprise... the smell coming from Sam and Clover. It must've been from this toxin...  
  
"So... you two are going to die..." Mandy said.  
  
"Yes, they are." Alison said coldly. Mandy glared at the purple-haired woman darkly, but Sam and Clover remained silent for a few moments.  
  
"Where's Pam?" Clover broke the silence finally.  
  
"We don't know, she said something about going for the Faustium cache they brought in, but the attack happened so quickly I'm not sure if she made it." Sam replied. Mandy blinked. They had Faustium here in this base? That was the stuff that had killed Mandy before... what good was it too blow up all the Zardexians if they blew themselves up in the process?  
  
"I'm going to find her." Alison turned toward the door and marched toward it, but Sam rushed after her.  
  
"Hold on, we should stay put. There could still be Zardexians out there somewhere." Sam pointed out.  
  
"I'm not leaving the General out there alone." Alison shot back coolly.  
  
"We'll all go." Clover walked up behind Sam and put a hand on her shoulder. "I think we'll be safe enough..." She jerked her head back at Mandy. The brunette smirked, but didn't say anything. She didn't really like the idea of being a bodyguard, but she wasn't going to let Clover wander around alone, and she would fight to protect her.  
  
"Just stay out of my way." Alison turned to head outside, followed by the other three women. The dust was finally beginning to clear, giving them a view of the surrounding city. Few buildings were still standing, and the pavement itself was torn apart. People and blood spots littered the streets as far as they could see. Some of those people were moving, giving the impression that the Zardexians had left survivors for once.  
  
But the sweet, alluring smell assaulted Mandy's senses from every side. The entire city was teeming with it, to the point where she had to suppress a gag reflex as she followed the three other women through the city toward the armory. Even scarier though, was that her stomach growled softly at the smell... it reminded her of food.  
  
They reached the armory and pushed the doors open, heading inside. The room was torn apart more than any other they'd seen that hadn't been destroyed from the outside. The weapons were strewn about, and the solid steel shelves were bent in upon themselves into shapeless masses. The walls and floors had punctures in them, and in the center of the room lay the General of the WOOHP army, sprawled out across the floor.  
  
"General!" Alison ran forward and knelt down beside her, putting one hand in front of her mouth to feel for breath. Sam, Clover and Mandy approached as the woman opened her eyes, looking up at them. Her body was riddled with holes, and the sweet scent was emanating out of every pore in her body. Enough toxin must have been pumped into her to bring her down within minutes.  
  
"Madison..." General Reynolds muttered softly, staring up at the purple-haired woman. Mandy didn't recognize the name, but Sam and Clover got startled looks in their eyes. "I didn't make it in time... they took the Faustium..."  
  
"Relax..." Madison told her softly. "It doesn't matter, we'll regroup and launch a counterattack." She promised with a slight smile on her face. "We'll show those alien bastards who runs this part of the universe..."  
  
"At the moment..." Pam smirked. "They do..." She chuckled humorlessly and shook her head, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
"Hold on..." Madison grabbed her hand gently.  
  
"Madison... promise me something..." Pam looked up at her solemnly. "After I die... stop hiding from yourself." Madison blinked the tears of her eyes furiously. "You are Madison McAllister..."  
  
"The daughter of the greatest psycho in the history of Earth..." Madison muttered.  
  
"The woman whose image can help unite this planet like I couldn't." Pam told her softly. Madison shook her head, reaching up to wipe her tears away furiously.  
  
Madison spoke in a venomous tone. "No, you united everyone so far. I'm just a reminder of the most evil-"  
  
Pam cut her off. "YOU can be the symbol of what the world once had..." She told her. "I may have made you my second in command... but you are the only remnant of the governments that were in power before all this started... everyone else has been slaughtered." She reached up and put one hand on Madison's cheek tenderly. "Bring everyone else in... who refuses to fight. I'm sure... they'll follow you. They have to."  
  
"General... Pam... I'm no leader." Madison complained.  
  
"Please try." Pam told her. "Hell... what have we got to lose...?" Pam asked softly. Madison wiped more tears out of her eyes, and slowly nodded.  
  
"Okay... I promise..." Madison said softly.  
  
"Thank you..." Pam gave her a tender smile before her eyes began to close. "In life... or in death... let the world stand as one..." Her eyes closed completely and her breath became shallower. Mandy noticed a significant wane in the smell of the Zardexian toxin... she couldn't smell it coming from Pam's body. Madison gripped the cold woman's hand tightly and laid her forehead against her chest, squeezing her eyes closed against the tears.  
  
Clover and Sam both lowered their heads and closed their eyes out of respect, but Mandy was too preoccupied to notice. The Zardexians had them in the corner... they could have wiped them all out if they'd stayed just thirty minutes more. Was the entire attack designed to get to Mandy? And what would they possibly want with the Faustium? They had no idea if it would work on alien organisms, and if the humans used it they would be killing themselves, making it easier on the Zardexians.  
  
"We'll give her a proper burial today... but we don't have time for a long service." Sam stated softly when she opened her eyes again. Madison nodded slowly and moved away from the body. Sam and Clover set about looking for blankets, a tarp, anything to wrap the body in. Mandy stayed where she was, watching until Madison looked up at her with a piercing, tear-filled gaze.  
  
"Did you have something to do with this?" She demanded sharply. Mandy wasn't really surprised, so she just shook her head.  
  
"Of course not... I don't want to see anybody die." Mandy replied. She walked up to Madison and put one firm hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry..." Madison stared up at her searchingly... then nodded and looked down at Pam again. "You knew what I am... why didn't you turn me in...?" Mandy asked curiously. Madison sounded distracted when she answered.  
  
"I didn't know for sure until I saw you without your Earplugs in the battle when the Ear Bleeder was activated... but all you did was protect Sam and Clover." Madison replied. "I figured if you were going to betray us, it would've been right then, when you could've turned your gun on the Ear Bleeder and destroyed it before escaping with your comrades."  
  
Mandy nodded and watched as Sam and Clover carefully wrapped a thin blanket around Pam's body, making sure it was nice and tight before they stood up. Madison climbed to her feet, and both she and Mandy followed the two WOOHP agents outside into one of the fields. The sweet scent of toxin still hung in the air as the survivors began to regroup, finding each other and forming small groups.  
  
Mandy and Clover each took a shovel and quickly dug a small three foot deep grave, just big enough around to fit the body into without having to bend it out of shape. By the time they finished, the sun was halfway gone past the horizon. They climbed out of the grave, and Sam and Madison gently climbed in with the body, setting it on the soft soil and climbing back out again. They all turned toward the grave solemnly.  
  
"Do you want to say something Madison?" Sam asked. Mandy looked behind her to see that the surviving soldiers had begun to gather behind them, searching for a place to go rather than just wandering aimlessly through the landscape. Every one of them had a puncture wound on their body, and every one of them had the same sweet scent.  
  
Madison noticed them too, and turned to look out across the soldiers. "Yes... my name is Madison McAllister..." She stated. A few gasps escaped those who were old enough to remember who she was. Others just looked confused. "General Reynolds charged me with the job of uniting everyone... everyone on Earth. It's been said... that that is an impossible task." She nodded and clenched her lips in a determined line. "But I'm going to do it anyway... and whether we ultimately win or lose against the Zardexians... at least we'll do it as one." She turned back to the grave and looked down at the blanket-wrapped body.  
  
"Thanks to you, Pam..." She said softly. She nodded over at Mandy and Clover, both of whom picked up their shovels and started filling in the grave. Madison turned back to the gathered crowd and raised her arms over her head. "My father was the man who let all of this begin in the first place... but as long as I draw breath, I swear right now that where it began with him, it will end with me one way or another. We won't fight forever. But we WILL fight as one!"  
  
She looked back as Clover and Mandy finished filling in the grave, now just a mound of dirt in the Earth. Madison picked up a nearby chunk of steel and walked around the grave to kneel down at the head. She jammed the steel into the Earth and took a sharp combat knife out of its holster, carving the words 'The woman who fought for us all. R.I.P. General Pamela Reynolds' on the front. The troops seemed emboldened by this display, their faces shining with grim determination.  
  
Madison stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes in an almost businesslike manner as she marched to the foot of the grave again, looking out across the troops with the edge of the setting sun at her back. "Let both the mistakes and the heroism of those who came before guide us now... as we finally bring these damned wars to a close one way or another!" She pumped her fist into the air.  
  
The soldiers in front of her pumped their fists into the air with shouts of determination. Mandy looked around, not feeling half as good as they were. The toxin was flowing inside each and every person present except for her. And it looked like the entire Zardexian fleet had arrived... there wouldn't be that many humans left by now, even those who refused to fight scattered throughout the cities.  
  
"This is all useless..." Mandy commented aside to Clover.  
  
"I know." Clover replied, though she had her arm up along with everyone else's. "But there's not a whole Hell of a lot we can do but fight. Even hiding isn't an option now." She stated. Mandy growled and nodded, her expression becoming clouded. That damned toxin... it would be the death of them all somehow, through the debilitating effects or luring the Zardexians to them. But she guessed it was better to let the troops hope and fight. To die on their feet rather than crumpled up on the ground whimpering like dogs.  
  
"So let's go..." Madison said in a cold, hard voice. "Let's go find any brothers we have that remain out there... and make our stand."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	20. The Specter and the Traveler

Part 19: The Specter and the Traveler  
  
Alex's gaze bore into those of her new close friend, the deep violet orbs almost hypnotizing as she raised one hand to gently run it through her dark strands of hair. It looked absolutely stunning in the light of the small van they were sitting in, with the front windshield facing toward the battle-scarred city of San Francisco.  
  
"You have pretty hair." Alex said dumbly as she stared at her close friend. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to touch your hair... I..." Alex stuttered when she realized what she was doing. She moved to take her hand back, but Mandy's hand, roughened by the months living in rough conditions and fighting sporadically, grabbed Alex's hand before she could move it.  
  
"So do you..." Mandy's other hand reached up to stroke her cheek. The rough skin of her palm felt strangely pleasant for some reason against her not-exactly-smooth cheek. "I've been in love with it ever since I saw it..." She whispered under her breath. Alex stared at her. Mandy was talking about her hair... but her eyes never left Alex's.  
  
"It's so long and soft... it's wonderful." Alex replied softly as she ran her hand through Mandy's hair again, her palm encircling the back of Mandy's head. They slowly found themselves moving toward each other.  
  
"You're wonderful..." Mandy replied as her hand drew Alex's face ever closer to hers. "You're the most wonderful thing I know..." Her expression changed from one of tenderness to one of... hunger. A feeling Alex couldn't deny feeling herself. Having this beautiful woman... this beautiful, haunted person so close to her now was exhilarating... and in a way, intoxicating.  
  
"You're so pretty Mandy..." Alex said. "Even when I hated you... I thought you were more pretty than Clover..."  
  
"I thought the same way..." Mandy replied with a soft smile.  
  
Slowly they moved even closer, until Alex felt her nose touch the tip of Mandy's. A small giggle escaped her lips. "I'm sorry, I just can't help myself..."  
  
Mandy didn't respond, instead tilting her head to the side and drawing their lips together at last. Mandy's hand gripped the back of Alex's neck, trapping her as she moved closer against the lithe form of the former WOOHP spy. Alex was all too willing to be trapped, wrapping her arms around Mandy and closing her eyes as the kiss deepened. Their bodies moved closer together, rubbing against each other with such friction that it just set her soul on fire...  
  
Alex awoke with a start, surprised for a moment to find herself sleeping in one of the beds she found on board the Argathin ship. She panted hard, the dream having awakened old desires and urges within her... urges that she couldn't fulfill now, but knew she couldn't let go.  
  
As she sat up her gaze turned toward the window. The violet essence was floating just outside among the stars, peacefully pacing the golden ship like a whale looking over a ship lost at sea. Alex sighed and shook her head wistfully, staring at the Starlight Specter.  
  
"I know Mandy... I feel it too..." Alex slipped off the bed and stretched her back out as she walked toward the large bathroom. She took her time in the shower, since she wasn't exactly in a hurry to be anywhere. The ship was still on its course to Earth, and they'd left the Argathin home world just a few days ago. It would be a while yet before they arrived at their destination.  
  
When she was clean, Alex dressed in the same animal skins she'd been wearing and went back up to the bridge to eat some breakfast. The Starlight Specter followed her, appearing outside the front window with a soft cry that echoed deep inside Alex's head. She sat down in the captain's chair and used a small laser she'd found on the ship to open one of the cans she'd brought.  
  
She shoveled the thick substance into her mouth with her fingers and leaned back to watch the glowing violet entity outside the window. It had been appearing and disappearing throughout the several days she'd been out in space. There wasn't much to do on this ship except for a few gyms she found down in the depths of it. But she wasn't in the mood to work out.  
  
"Mmm... this one tastes like... beef stew." Alex told the energy outside the window. She ate her fill then set the can aside and pushed herself to her feet. "So where'd you go the last time you left me?" She smirked. Talking to 'Mandy' had become about all she did. There wasn't anyone else around, or anything else to do. Only the steady beeping of the console let her know she wasn't just drifting randomly in space.  
  
Mandy never responded though. "You're too quiet." Alex told the drifting Starlight Specter. "You're seeing another lonely space captain aren't you?" She chuckled to herself. As usual, the specter didn't respond. "I knew it, you don't love me anymore." Alex whirled dramatically and put one hand to her head. She peeked back at the energy, but it still didn't respond.  
  
"Spoil sport." Alex stuck her tongue out at the glowing mass of energy. She stopped when she heard a small beeping sound from the front console. "Eh? What's going on here?" She approached the console and looked down at it. A light on the front was flashing red, and the entire console was slowly being overtaken by a strange looking static. "Tell me the ship's not breaking..."  
  
A wailing sound erupted inside Alex's mind, drawing her gaze to the Starlight Specter outside the window. It was shivering, but still paced her ship. Alex turned her gaze forward and gasped when she saw a magnificent cloud of glittering lights framed by the darkness of space. Alex blinked in confusion as the ship drew closer to it.  
  
Soon the console in front of her was covered in static, and outside the ship she could see the Specter weaving through space as if it was having trouble keeping up with her. "Mandy!?" Alex ran to the window and placed her hands against the glass. "MANDYYYY!" Alex screamed and pounded on the glass, but she couldn't stop the violet energy outside the window from vanishing.  
  
"Whhooooaaaa!" Alex yelled as the ship began to rock under her feet. She collapsed to the floor and rolled toward the pilot's seat. She grabbed it and pulled herself up to reach for the controls... but suddenly the lights went out and the ship stopped moving. "Wh... what happened...?" Alex stuttered fearfully. She pulled herself into the pilot's seat, pounding on the console in front of her, but it remained dark.  
  
In fact, the entire ship seemed to have gone dark. There were even any red emergency lights or anything, the entire thing was pitch black. She could only see by the small, but piercing rays of light from the myriad stars outside the front windshield, combined with the swirling rainbow of colors that the ship had flown into.  
  
"We ran out of juice... not even any emergency lights..." Alex gulped. "Probably means no oxygen either..." She sat back in the pilot's seat, staring blankly at the front window. "Mandy, where the Hell did you go?" She asked in a shivering voice. The absolute silence seemed deafening after listening to the hum of the ship's engines for the last few days.  
  
What was she supposed to do now? The shining rainbow lights outside of the ship illuminated the bridge fairly well, but she couldn't leave this room or she'd never find her way around in the pitch darkness. She couldn't see Mandy outside. And she swore she could feel the air beginning to stagnate already, though that was probably just her fear kicking in.  
  
"Don't tell me this is it..." Alex sighed and leaned her back against the front windshield. "After coming all this way I get to suffocate on my way back home? That's just plain cruel..." She slid down to a sitting position. "Maybe I deserve it after abandoning the village like that... or killing that child... or any of the other hundreds of things I've done trying to fight the Imperium of Christ..."  
  
She looked up in surprise when the golden lights began to shine again, for just a split second before fading into darkness again. "The power came back...?" Alex blinked and looked outside the window. The ship was coming up to a small gap in the rainbow cloud outside. The lights flashed again as they passed through it, but faded when she drifted into another section of the cloud. "The cloud... it's draining the ship's power."  
  
So that was the answer, she had to get rid of that cloud... but how the Hell was she supposed to move a cloud out of the way trapped in deep space with no way to get outside to it, let alone actually move it? Was she supposed to just jump out an airlock with a big fan and blow it away? It was hopeless... she couldn't move a cloud, or even this ship...  
  
"Alex..." Alex looked up in surprise when she heard a soft voice echo in the back of her mind. "Alex, are you in there?" The Latino woman leapt to her feet, turning to stare out the front window. Mixed with the rainbow energy outside she could see a violet swirl of energy randomly moving through it.  
  
"M... Mandy?" Alex asked in surprise. The dark violet energy swirled faster, moving through the other colors like a bullet.  
  
"You can hear me now!" The voice replied excitedly in her mind. Alex pushed herself quickly to her feet, staring at the dark violet energy outside. "I've been trying to talk to someone for so long... but I didn't think anyone could hear me!"  
  
"I heard you... I heard you Mandy." Alex approached the glass and placed her hand against it. She couldn't stop grinning ear to ear as she watched the energy circle outside. "I knew it was you... I just knew it. But... what happened to you? How did you get like this?"  
  
"I don't know exactly. I grabbed that bastard alien and threw us into space... then I exploded, and when I opened my eyes I was like this. I tried to go back down to Earth and find someone... but nobody could hear me." Mandy's voice replied. "I was beginning to think nobody would ever notice me again when I realized that people COULD see me up here in space... but they still couldn't hear me."  
  
"Well I think I did hear you... in my dreams..." Alex replied. "And I can hear you perfectly now."  
  
"I know. I think it's this cloud. It's like a... pool of energy. It sucks it from the surrounding space into itself. When I touched it, it took me too... but I feel stronger now than I ever have," Mandy said. "I'm so glad you can hear me Alex... you have no idea what it's like floating around up here alone, with nothing and nobody around..."  
  
"I know Mandy, it's okay." Alex smiled slightly. "I'm with you now... but I won't be for long if I don't get out of this cloud. It drained the ship's power. I don't even have any emergency lights." She gulped. The violet energy outside the window swirled through the cloud even faster.  
  
"I think I might be able to do something about that... give me a minute." The violet energy swirled away from her, vanishing into the rainbow cloud. Alex leaned against the window, watching curiously as the glowing particles of light began to swirl and move around each other in a small stream. The stream grew larger and larger until it parted to reveal a ball of light particles surrounding a surge of violet energy.  
  
"RAAAAAGH!" Mandy's scream erupted in Alex's mind as the pulse of energy suddenly darted toward her, trailing a stream of light particles behind it. Alex backed away when she realized it was heading straight for the window she was leaning against. She dove to the side and covered her head with her hands as the surge slammed into the ship, knocking it to the side.  
  
Alex looked up as the lights flared to life, blinding for a moment before they faded back down to their normal glow. The power from the cloud around them must have been thrown into the ship's systems. "You did it Mandy!" Alex exclaimed, climbing to her feet. She hesitated when she didn't hear anything. "M... Mandy?" Alex turned around slowly. She gasped in surprise when she saw a ball of dark violet energy lying against the back wall. It surged and swirled in itself, almost as if in pain. "Mandy!?"  
  
"G... get outta the... cloud..." Mandy's voice ordered. Alex gulped and nodded, rushing to the control panel to set the ship back to autopilot toward Earth at maximum velocity. She watched the screen until they broke through the cloud into the darkness of space, when she finally let herself breathe again. She turned back to the violet lump against the back wall worriedly.  
  
"Mandy? Are you okay?" Alex moved around the bridge toward the ball, reaching out to put one hand against it. It felt wonderfully warm to the touch, as she's expected... but it was also shivering. "Mandy...?" Alex stroked the solid-feeling energy, but Mandy didn't respond. "You're not strong enough to talk anymore... are you?" It didn't give a response.  
  
Alex sighed wistfully and leaned against it, wrapping her arms around it. "Don't worry Mandy... I'll take care of you, and I won't let you be lonely again." Alex smiled slightly, holding onto the violet ball of energy. Gently she tried to put her arms under it and lift it up, but it was far heavier than it looked. She grunted and strained for a few moments, but it wasn't budging.  
  
Finally Alex sighed and gave up, leaning against the sentient energy ball. "Sorry Mandy... but you've put on a little weight." She smiled jokingly. But Mandy didn't respond at all. It was hard to tell that she wasn't just a big purple rock really. The energy had completely stopped moving. "Mandy, you're... you're still alive... aren't you?" Alex asked. "Please say something..."  
  
Alex waited, but she didn't get any response. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes, forcing a smile onto her face. "Hey... okay, you rest up. You probably need it, and you definitely deserve it for saving my life twice now." She turned away from the purple rock and picked up her animal skin bag, turning to walk toward the exit. "I'll... check on you in a little while..."  
  
She left quickly, wiping at the tears that flowed down her cheeks as she walked down the hallway. She marched into the bedroom she'd claimed as her own and dropped the bag to the floor. The bed squeaked lightly as she let herself collapse on top of it, burying her face in the comfortable pillow. Her feet hung off the edge of the bed since it was made for the smaller Argathins, but she didn't really care right now.  
  
She kept her face in the pillow, only leaving her mouth hanging off so she could breathe. Her tears moistened the pillow, tears she couldn't seem to stop. She was afraid Mandy had killed herself... AGAIN... but what was she supposed to do about it? All she could do it seemed was just worry and hope, and those didn't seem like very productive things to do.  
  
Still, she couldn't stop crying and worrying into the pillow until she drifted off into a light slumber. The darkness claimed her senses, drawing her away from the world until suddenly she felt the same touch she felt before. She saw an image in her dream of Mandy sitting on the edge of Alex's bed with a slight smile on her face.  
  
"Mandy?" Alex sat up curiously. Wait... she was still dreaming wasn't she? It was hard to tell, Mandy looked so real in the golden lights that illuminated the entire ship.  
  
"Yeah, it's me." Mandy told her. "I'm glad to finally be able to TALK to you instead of just... remembering." She said.  
  
"Mandy..." Alex reached up and grabbed her, pulling her into a tight bear hug and leaning her cheek against her shoulder. "You have no idea what I went through after you died... wishing that you were still around..." Alex gulped and closed her eyes. She felt Mandy wrap her arms around her back. Wait... how could she feel it if this was a dream? Ah, she didn't care. Why question something that felt so wonderful? "I said you were a special thing... and I meant it..."  
  
"You were a special thing too..." Mandy replied softly. "The second person to accept what I was..." She said softly. The first, of course, was Mandy's high-school flame, Lisa Jones. Alex didn't care about the past though... she had Mandy now, that was what really mattered to her.  
  
"I love you, Amandy..." Alex whispered softly, squeezing Mandy even tighter. Mandy stroked her back and pushed her back onto the bed, until Alex was staring up at her, the deep purple eyes boring into hers.  
  
"I love you too, Alex." Mandy told her firmly, more of a statement of fact than some kind of declaration of love. Alex blinked, but suddenly she found the purple-eyed woman on top of her, her lips and teeth gnawing into the tender flesh of her throat. Alex shivered in surprise and delight, arching her neck to give Mandy better access. So much fire now... it was completely different from what she remembered. Mandy was back in herself... and apparently very hungry for human contact after months of isolation.  
  
Contact Alex was all too happy to give.  
  
She felt Mandy's hands probing her body, pulling the skins away from her with such delicate, electric touches that there was no way this could've been a dream. Soon Alex found herself completely at Mandy's mercy, lying on the bed nude with the violet-eyed woman hunched over her, looking her over as if to decide how to begin some kind of torture.  
  
Mandy leaned down, pressing her body up against Alex's. Was she nude before? Alex hadn't noticed somehow... that was kinda weird. But she wasn't about to argue, because the feel of Mandy's body sent an electric thrill through her. Mandy's lips engulfed her own, and her hands slid up and down her sides, across her thighs and around her butt, sliding around to toy with the edges of Alex's womanhood.  
  
Alex shuddered in pleasure, giving herself to the fiery brunette woman who was dominating her body. She closed her eyes, feeling Mandy's hands probing her body in firm and quick, but careful strokes and prods that set her nerves on fire. She moaned when she felt Mandy's hand sliding over her breasts, her other probing and stroking her most tender areas so expertly Alex felt like she was going to explode within seconds.  
  
Mandy's lips touched her throat again for a few moments, and Alex whimpered when she started moving them down her body. They trailed up the top of one of her breasts, moving down until the found the place that would send waves of sensations coursing through Alex's body. Alex arched her back, clutching the sheets and groaning loudly. The tension built quickly, once believed lost to her forever, but now inexplicably back.  
  
"Maaaannndyyyyyy!" Alex yelled as the wave of passion swept over her. She opened her eyes and sat up... to find that Mandy was gone. Alex was panting heavily in the afterglow of her very real climax, looking around. She was very confused until she saw a glimmering purple energy in the corner of the room. She blinked in surprise as it moved toward the bed.  
  
It was at least twelve feet tall, with the highest tip almost scraping the ceiling of the massive space ship. It looked like it had a generally human shape, and it was about as wide as a human. It looked like a person wearing a cloak that dragged against the ground as it moved in an eerie, ghostly floating manner. A protrusion from the top resembled a human head sticking out of the cloak, though there were no specific features to be found anywhere on its body. Alex could almost feel a sense of warmth coming from it though.  
  
"Wow Mandy... you look kinda... creepy." Alex said. The violet figure shook her 'head' and shoulders in what Alex thought kind of looked like a laugh. "You still can't talk huh?" Mandy shook her head. "That's okay... I'm still glad you're here." Alex stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the figure. She was less than half as tall as she was though. "And we always have my dreams."  
  
Mandy nodded and part of her 'cloak' stretched out to wrap around her in a light hug. Alex smiled, enjoying the warms of Mandy's 'body' wrapped around her. The memory of what they'd just finally shared after so long helped too. She wasn't alone in her journey back to Earth anymore... boy would Sam and Clover be surprised when she showed up back on Earth with Mandy. It would be wonderful.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	21. Earth's Twilight

Part 20: Earth's Twilight  
  
Millions upon millions of years of evolution had led them to this point, here and now, a struggle for survival that would decide the fate of everything they'd ever known. Armageddon it was called in the Bible, the end of days on Earth... judgment day. They must have done something to piss off whatever God that existed pretty bad, because it looked like the war was coming to a close. Humanity... was being annihilated.  
  
They'd searched high and low for the last week and a half for any other survivors... but none remained. They checked city after city in country after country. France, Pakistan, Israel, Istanbul, England, America, Germany, Russia, Canada, India, nobody remained anywhere they searched. It wasn't hard to believe that the arrival of the main Zardexian fleet had signaled the end of the human race's presence on Earth.  
  
But then why did they leave this small group of war survivors alone? It was simply really. They were being toyed with. Or more specifically, Mandy knew she was being toyed with. Day by day the sweet stench of the Zardexian toxin grew stronger, as she was forced to watch her friends and comrades slowly weaken from its debilitating effects.  
  
Mandy stood atop the hill that overlooked the blasted and shattered remnants of one of the grimmest sights on the planet. The smoldering crater that had once been Los Angeles. The nuclear radiation was still pretty intense around this area, but Mandy didn't really care. Besides, as she'd guessed, the radiation didn't seem to have an effect on her Zardexian body. In fact, it was quite the opposite. She felt strong here.  
  
They'd just finished searching the former United States of America from East Coast to West, and found no signs of life anywhere on the ground. In the air they occasionally caught sight of a Zardexian ship pacing them, as though reminding them that they were never safe. That they never escaped... could never elude them.  
  
"Are you ready to come back to us, Zeninia?" A familiar male voice spoke from behind her. Mandy looked back to see the man from Moscow approaching her with his hands jammed in the pockets of his blue jeans. "Are you ready to return to your true people?"  
  
Mandy stared at him. She knew she was a Zardexian... but she still felt like a human. She loved Clover, she felt a kinship with Sam... she wished she could help them. But it seemed like there was still so much she didn't know even about herself. She'd forgotten her life once, and she'd claimed it once again... was it time to claim a different life?  
  
"Tell me who I am... what I'm doing here." Mandy said coldly.  
  
"Your name is Zeninia... you are my wife." The man told her. Mandy stood up in surprise, expecting to find some trace of deception in his eyes... but she found none. "You volunteered to be genetically altered into the human known as Mandy... to use her legendary name and likeness to confuse the humans into losing hope, and make them easier to subjugate."  
  
"If that's true, why can't I remember ever being a Zardexian?" Mandy looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers as though looking for Zardexian blood to come spilling out. "How come all I remember is being Amanda Victoria Delaroyale?" She asked.  
  
"There was some kind of accident in the middle of your genetic alteration." The Zardexian man approached her with his arms stretched out to his sides. "We're unclear on exactly what happened... but it must have overwritten your normal memory with those of Amanda Delaroyale. I... I thought you died in the explosion." He walked up to her and placed his hands gently on her shoulders, staring into her eyes. "We didn't realize you were still alive until we received word that you were among their ranks..."  
  
"Why... why should I believe anything you say? You've been trying to kill everyone I love..." Mandy pointed out.  
  
"I AM your love, Zeninia..." The man told her. "I'm your husband, Tarren... I promise we can bring back your memory if you come with me." His hand gently stroked her cheek, brushing a lock of midnight black hair out of her face. "Please, my love... we are meant to be together for as long as we both live. That was our vow." He told her. Mandy stared at him blankly. She didn't see any trace of a lie in his eyes... but she didn't remember any of this either.  
  
"Give me the night to think it over..." Mandy told him softly.  
  
"Of course..." Tarren nodded, never taking his eyes off of hers. "I will return to this spot tomorrow morning at first light... if you want to come back to us... to me... be here." He pulled her close and gently pressed his lips against hers. Mandy didn't pull away nor return the kiss, standing calm and still until he pulled back. "I'll be waiting for you..."  
  
Mandy stood and watched him turn away from her and walk into the blasted crater of San Francisco California. He seemed completely genuine... she could practically feel the love radiating from him... but she just didn't know if she was who he said she was. Even if she was Zeninia before... she didn't feel like her now. Was she still Zeninia?  
  
Or had she truly become Mandy?  
  
She sighed and turned away from the ruined site to climb in the car she'd taken from a nearby town and drove back to the place where the helicopters had set down when they'd all become too weak to fly them anymore. The sun was diipping down just past the horizon when she pulled up to one of the tents and climbed out of her car, stepping inside to look around.  
  
The rest of the soldiers were lounging about inside the tent, lying against their beds and looking through those few personal belongings they had left. Some still had pictures or journals from times gone by... but one thing was notably lacking from this picture. Hope. Not a single one of them looked determined anymore. Even Madison, who'd given her speech of hope just a week and a half ago, looked ready to throw in the towel.  
  
Mandy walked down the middle of the isle until she found Clover lying back on her bed, her body limp though Mandy could still see her drawing breath. The smell of the Zardexian toxin was overpowering, with it coursing through every single body around her like a plague. Still she approached Clover's bed and sat down on the edge, looking down at the beautiful fiery blonde.  
  
Clover looked up at her with her old fire despite the fact that her body was growing weaker almost by the hour. "Are you going to stick around and watch us all rot?" She asked.  
  
"I'm thinking about it..." Mandy replied softly. "The... the Zardexians made me an offer..." She trailed off.  
  
"Of course... you're one of them... physically..." Clover told her. Mandy remained silent, not wanting to mention her Zardexian husband. "You probably should go... we're all just sitting around waiting to either drop dead or be eaten."  
  
"You're right... I probably should go." Mandy nodded back, not moving to go anywhere. "But I don't want to go tonight..." She trailed off, staring into the deep blue eyes of the woman who'd become her love in recent weeks. She couldn't imagine being with anyone else, let alone a man. She remembered being a lesbian after all.  
  
Clover reached up and wrapped her arms softly around her, pulling her down until Mandy's head was resting against her chest. Mandy closed her eyes and leaned against her, climbing onto the bed to rest in Clover's arms. They both remained silent, until finally Mandy began to feel herself slipping into a deep restful sleep. Suddenly she heard a soft doubt speak from the edge of her consciousness.  
  
"Who are you... really?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You act... talk... think... feel like Mandy. How can you not be her?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Are you Mandy then?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"How can you not know who you are? Don't you govern your own identity?"  
  
"Do I?"  
  
"You have for weeks. Why would you suddenly lose that ability now?"  
  
"But I've been lost and confused. It was an accident, Tarren said so."  
  
"Yet you don't want to be Zeninia."  
  
"How can I choose when I don't remember who Zeninia is?"  
  
"But if you knew who she was, would you still have a choice in who you are? Or would you suddenly feel like her? You do have her body, despite looking like Mandy. Are you simply who your body dictates? Do you have no control over who you are? Or do you decide who you are?"  
  
"... I don't know."  
  
"You're pathetic."  
  
Mandy groaned softly and opened her eyes. The moon was still high in the sky outside, and Clover's breath had fallen into a steady sleeping pattern underneath her. She stared up at her sleeping lover for a moment, then pushed herself up from the bed and rubbed her head, looking around at all the troops sleeping peacefully.  
  
She walked down the isle toward the exit and pushed her way out of the tent into the dark night. There were no stars overhead here, the pollution from the cities had created a cloud far overhead that prevented them from being seen in this part of the world. She wished she could see them. They seemed like the only thing that was sure at this point.  
  
"It's the end for Earth." A voice said. Mandy looked to the side to see Sam leaning heavily against the side of one of the helicopters, staring up at the starless sky. "But hopefully Alex got the others safely to the Argathin planet... and the human race won't be completely wiped from the universe. I hope she's happy wherever she is now..."  
  
"Couldn't sleep?" Mandy asked.  
  
"I could... but I'd prefer not to." Sam replied simply. She looked exhausted leaning against the helicopter with her arms hanging limply at her sides. "Our time is running out... I'd prefer not to waste it all sleeping." She smirked and shook her head. "All the fighting we did, all the heartening speeches, all the courage... and it all ends up here."  
  
"It had to end eventually. Nobody can fight forever." Mandy reminded her with a soft tone.  
  
"Yeah, I know." Sam replied. "I just know I could've done something differently though. Something to at least save more people. Maybe if I'd encouraged them to leave with Alex, more people would've gone instead of stupidly following me into a futile war." She sighed and lowered her head to her chest. With her head and arms hanging, she looked completely and utterly defeated. "As it is... I just kept pushing fake optimism..."  
  
"Your optimism wasn't fake." Mandy told her. "You wanted to die fighting... and that's what happened. You all died fighting..." Mandy smiled slightly. "It doesn't matter how long it took you to die afterward... you were all killed in the fight at Moscow." Sam smiled at her slightly.  
  
"I guess you're right." She nodded slowly. "So what are you doing up? Are you going somewhere?"  
  
"Maybe..." Mandy replied softly. "One of the Zardexians offered to let me go with them... show me where this body came from. Who I was before I... apparently... became Mandy."  
  
"You don't sound too thrilled at the idea." Sam pointed out.  
  
"It's weird... if you'd asked me... or Mandy... before December thirty-first I... she... would've said she wished she'd never been born into this world of stupidity, hatred, and misery." Mandy shook her head in amazement. "But right now... the idea of not being human seems like it would be worse than death. I mean... I know my body isn't human... but if my mind isn't really human, what'll it be?"  
  
"Zardexian." Sam replied simply.  
  
"The mind of a killer." Mandy muttered.  
  
"Mandy, when you first arrived, I thought that same thing." Sam told her. Mandy looked at her interestedly. "I figured you were Zardexian... of course you would be a threat to us and everyone around us. Zardexians are all murderers... but Clover pointed out that just because you're a Zardexian doesn't mean you're a killer."  
  
Sam smiled slightly. "Humans killed each other long before any aliens showed up. Just because you have a Zardexian body... and a Zardexian mind... doesn't make you evil. She asked me to trust you and try to give you more leeway and humane treatment." Sam stared at her steadily. "I agreed... and I haven't regretted that once. I still don't regret it."  
  
"So what am I supposed to do? I can't just leave you all here to die can I?" Mandy asked.  
  
"It's either leave us to die... or sit and watch us die." Sam told her. "And I'm not going to wish that on you." Mandy stared at her blankly. "Get out of here Mandy. I'll tell Clover you said goodbye... just because it's over for all of us, doesn't mean your life has to come to an end."  
  
Mandy nodded slowly and reached out to pull Sam into a friendly hug. "Tell Clover I... I still love her... and won't ever forget her... will you?" Mandy gulped sadly.  
  
"I'll tell her the instant she wakes up." Sam smiled as Mandy moved away from her. "Good luck Mandy... I hope you're happy with the Zardexians... as I don't think you were ever happy with us."  
  
"Goodbye Sam..." Mandy turned and walked away from the small camp to the vehicle she'd used just the night before. She climbed in and drove through the night toward the edge of the radioactive crater that had once been one of the most thriving cities in the country. When she climbed out she could see the first rays of the sun beginning to peek through the haze of pollution above her.  
  
"You're here..." Mandy looked to the side when she heard Tarren speak. A small Zardexian scout ship was parked on the Earth behind him with the door wide open, waiting for her. "I was kind of afraid you would refuse to come... that I'd lost you forever."  
  
"If I come... I want you to promise me something." Mandy said.  
  
"What?" Tarren asked.  
  
"Cure the rest of the humans and let them go."  
  
"I can't do that." Tarren shook his head. "What would our people think if we cured a group of lower races and set them loose in the world? There would be far too many complications, and possible rebellion."  
  
Mandy gulped. "Then just... just leave them alone. Let them die peacefully, don't make them die in one of your stomachs." She insisted.  
  
"That, I believe I can do." Tarren nodded and stepped aside, gesturing grandly to the vessel behind him. "Now come... your old life and your real people await." Mandy gulped and walked into the ship slowly with the Zardexian man behind her. She saw one of the massive rolling aliens in the front cockpit. Her heart jumped until she remembered that she wasn't here to be eaten. She was here to become one of them.  
  
The pilot's tentacles wrapped around dozens of the controls around it at a time, working it with such precise strokes that it was hard to believe it was one of the murderous creatures she'd feared for the last few weeks. Mandy fell into one of the seats as the ship lifted from the ground and turned skyward, flying rapidly into the atmosphere.  
  
"I've never been in space before..." Mandy muttered stupidly.  
  
"Yes you have... and you'll remember soon." Tarren put one of his arms around her shoulders and squeezed comfortingly. Mandy smiled at him nervously, then turned to look out the front window again. She blinked when she felt something strange... it felt like a whale's cry as strange as that seemed. It was getting closer and closer...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	22. Reunited At Last

Part 21: Reunited At Last  
  
Alex leaned back in the captain's chair on the bridge of the Argathin vessel, with her hands clasped behind her head and her legs propped up on the console in front of her. The radar on the console in front of her was beeping steadily, but Alex wasn't paying much attention to it. She had her eyes closed, trying to fall asleep. But it wasn't happening, she was too hyper and energetic. She tried to sleep as much as possible these days. It was the only time she was able to see Mandy as she was supposed to be.  
  
The violet figure that was Mandy's new form was standing by the bridge exit, calm and silent. Alex couldn't even tell where the mostly shapeless form was looking. It was rather creepy, but she wasn't about to say so. She was lucky to have Mandy back, she wouldn't risk making her upset or angry. They were together again... and best of all, they had to be approaching Earth some time soon.  
  
"Y'know something Mandy..." Alex said. "I think I'm actually excited to get back to Earth. It feels like I haven't been back in years... and it's only been, like, two months." She chuckled. "I think mostly I miss Sam and Clover though... it'll be so good to see them again. And they'll be so surprised to see you too, don't you think?" Alex looked over at her energy-based friend.  
  
The violet figure nodded slowly. "Yeah. And when they see you maybe they'll-" She stopped suddenly when the radar under her feet began to blink and red lights flashed around the bridge. "What the...!?" Alex sat up quickly and looked down at the radar. "Oh crap! Stop!" Alex slammed her hands down on the control panel quickly to bring the vessel to a stop.  
  
"N... no..." Alex muttered softly. The radar had merely warned her about the sight she could now see far into the distance outside the front window. Massive Zardexian ships were orbiting around Earth, a thick wall of vessels that looked almost impenetrable. There must have been enough ships to coat the entire planet in laser fire... and enough Zardexians to hunt down everyone...  
  
"Are we too late...?" Alex stood up numbly and walked up to the front window to place her palm against the glass. "Is... is it already over...?" She gulped sadly, tears stinging at her eyes. "N... n-no... Sam and Clover are too strong to die like this... they must have survived somehow." Still she didn't move, staring out the window. "Please... tell me you girls survived..."  
  
She stood for several minutes, staring at the ships in front of her. She had enough supplies to turn around and go back to the Argathin world with Mandy, who didn't eat anymore. They could abandon this vehicle and make their way back to the village... live with everyone else like nothing ever happened here. If the human resistance was gone, they would have to. But she didn't know if they were gone... if she left now, she could be abandoning them all.  
  
"I have to know." Alex stated resignedly, walking back to the captain's chair in the middle of the bridge. She sat down and scooted up to the pilot's console. "I'm going back to Earth... I promised Sam I would. And I'm not breaking that promise no matter what the circumstances." She revved up the ship's engines, narrowing her eyes at the Zardexian fleet between her and the Earth. "And there's no way to go but through..."  
  
She pushed the engines to their maximum and sent the ship hurtling through the stars toward the Zardexian fleet. She gripped the wheel in front of her tightly, all business as the ships seemed to grow bigger... and bigger... and bigger still the closer she got.  
  
Suddenly she blinked when she noticed a violet haze flying outside the window again, looking like a giant glowing manta ray against the dark space around it. "Mandy?" Alex looked around in surprise, but didn't see her on the bridge. She must have left to help her... perhaps to act as some kind of decoy. "Mandy... please, be careful."  
  
Alex was a bit surprised to note that the radar showed a strange moving patch of static over Mandy's position. It looked familiar to her somehow, but this wasn't the time to worry about it.  
  
The violet specter flew ahead of her as the Zardexian ships turned toward them. Alex could see their weapons powering up, but Mandy began to flash brightly as it flew straight toward one of the ships. It tore through the front of the ship, ripping it clear in half through the middle before emerging on the other side and turning like an air force pilot.  
  
"Well, that'll get their attention..." Alex muttered as several other ships turned on Mandy, their weapons powering up. Alex bit her lip as they opened fire on the specter with massive lasers powerful enough to bring down a large building. They slammed into the shining violet energy; pushing it through the darkness away from them a ways before it righted itself and moved toward them again.  
  
Alex noted that it looked significantly smaller than it had moments ago. "Mandy..." Alex growled, knowing if she was going to get through the fleet to Earth it would have to be now. "Please... be careful..." She pushed her ship to maximum velocity again and charged toward the open hole in the Zardexian fleet's grid around the Earth.  
  
She kept one eye on the radar, seeing blip after blip appear as she moved within range of the fleet. Most of them were trained on the ball of static that moved across her radar, but she saw a few beginning to move toward her as she passed. She tried to speed up, but several streams of crimson red energy slammed into her ship, sending her hurtling around the bridge like a human pinball.  
  
"Hugh!" Alex huffed as she slammed into the floor on her stomach. "Man... I wish I knew where the weapons on this thing were..." She tried to crawl back to the controls, but the ship rocked again as more laser fire ripped into the hull. Alex slammed into the controls with a heavy thud, gasping and grabbing her chest painfully. "Ow... damnit..."  
  
Alex clung to the console for dear life as the ship rocked, battered on all sides. The lights began to flicker as she pulled herself painfully up to the console. She was surprised to find that the golden ship had gone into a spin, and was still moving toward the Earth just on its own forward momentum, since it didn't look like the engines worked anymore.  
  
Alex gulped. "I'm gonna crash..." Alex tried to turn the engines back on, but the control panel wouldn't respond. "Come on you piece of sh-" She was interrupted when the ship rocked suddenly again, sending her to the floor with a loud thump. She heard a tearing sound in the hallway just outside the bridge, and she felt the pull of the vacuum of space reaching into the bridge.  
  
"Door, door, door..." Alex crawled toward the exit quick and slammed her hand into the control panel, closing the thick steel door between herself and the hole in the wall. She pushed herself to her feet and stumbled back toward the console. Outside the ship she saw the pulsing violet specter move in front of her just in time to intercept a barrage of laser fire. They bore into the specter and sent it hurtling up against the hull of the golden ship.  
  
"Mandy! Be careful!" Alex shouted. The violet energy moved away from her ship, but suddenly it slammed into it, sending it hurtling past the last line of Zardexians fighters toward the Earth. A few more shots were fired to intercept her, but the ship's momentum was now too great to stop as it entered the Earth's atmosphere and began to burn up from the outside, gaining yet more speed in its descent through the clouds.  
  
Alex tried to activate the breaks, but the ship broke through the clouds in short order, opening up the rather beautiful orb of the Earth far below her. "Come on... come on!" Alex clung to the console, slamming her palm down on the breaks. She could hear the ship outside the bridge being torn up, and she could even see pieces of it flying past her outside the window. "Stop already!" She pleaded desperately.  
  
She gulped when she realized it was useless. The ship was hurtling toward the Pacific Ocean with no way to stop or turn. Alex crawled back to the captain's chair and strapped herself in thoroughly, clinging tightly to the arms and staring out the front window. She blinked when she felt her hand brush over something. There was a small button by her hand that said something in a strange looking language.  
  
"Please be an ejector seat... please be an ejector seat..." Alex pushed the button quickly. She gasped when the chair around her began to grow a steel cover over the front and around her legs, entombing her like a mummy in a chair. "Hey, wha-" Suddenly a barrage of cushions inflated, slamming into her and holding her in place. She was barely breathing. She knew the impact was coming... she could feel the fear rising up in her chest, a dread certainty that she wouldn't make it through.  
  
Suddenly she felt the impact, and screamed in fear as the metal-wrapped chair was torn loose from the rest of the ship. The cushions sheltered her from any broken bones, but she was hideously shaken and her limbs felt like lead weights after being jerked around so much. Her back was bruised and battered as it'd been slammed into the backpack that still contained many cans of food and the precious anti-toxin. Her head was aching something fierce as well, jarred quite violently.  
  
At least the vibrations stopped. She couldn't hear anything outside of her small shelter; it must have been both airtight and soundproof. She waited for a few minutes for anything else to happen, but nothing did. She could feel gravity pulling her forward... which meant the pod was fading downward. She had to be floating in the Pacific.  
  
Alex tapped the same button on the arm of the chair again. The cushions retracted and she gasped when a wave of water began to rush into the chamber. She took a deep breath just before it engulfed her head, and quickly rushed to undo the safety straps. She could feel the pressure weighing down on her painfully, and there was barely any light for her to see by. The chair was sinking to the bottom and taking her with it.  
  
She pulled herself out of the chair and quickly turned toward the light she could see shining far above her. The golden Argathin ship floated down past her as she swam furiously for the surface, pumping all of her limbs as hard as she could. The swim seemed to take forever. Her arms and legs ached and her lungs felt like they were burning. She could see the surface looming so close, but her chest must have been about to burst.  
  
Finally she broke the surface and took in a massive gulp of oxygen, leaving the water up to her waist before sinking back down into it. She climbed back to the surface and panted heavily, treading water with limbs shaking from exhaustion. "I've gotta..." She coughed. "Find Sam and Clover..." She looked up at the sun and saw it lowering itself toward the Western horizon. "Pacific... this way..."  
  
Alex turned and swam toward the East, hoping to be able to reach the land before her limbs gave out. She had no idea how far from it she was, but there wasn't much she could do about that. She just swam, pumping her aching arms and legs as hard as she could. The sun lowered toward the horizon further and further, until it was half-gone, but still Alex couldn't see any land anywhere.  
  
She stopped moving forward when she could barely hold her chin above the water. Her limbs felt like they were barely moving in the exhausting and freezing ocean waters. "What's the damn point!?" Alex shouted to the sky above. Her tears were washed away as a small wave washed over her face, pushing her under the surface before she scrambled back up again. She could've dumped the backpack she supposed, but she'd promised Sam to return with the anti-toxin.  
  
"Wh... why couldn't I j... just have been s-sucked into s-space?" Alex shivered in the freezing ocean waters. She was so tired; her limbs could barely keep her head above the water. "I don't wanna drown... I'm going to... find Sam and Clover..." She tried to propel herself toward the East again, but her limbs refused to cooperate anymore.  
  
Finally her limbs fell completely numb and her head slipped under the water. She tried futilely to pull herself back toward the surface, but she didn't have the strength to hold herself up anymore. She felt herself slowly sinking down into the ocean's depths, staring up at the fading sunlight that glinted golden over the surface of the ocean.  
  
Suddenly she felt something slide under her arm and haul her back up toward the surface. Her head broke through into the air and she gulped in the air greedily, leaning back against whoever or whatever had dragged her up. "Thank you..." Alex gulped. "I don't know how I could ever repay you for..." Alex turned slowly and blinked in surprise when she found herself lying against a smooth, slick gray body.  
  
The dolphin chattered and clicked up at her, weaving its body in the water under her grip. "Wow... thank you." Alex said dumbly. It was easy to forget while the human race was on the verge of extinction and the Earth was in such a ruined state that it was still not yet a dead planet. There were plenty of creatures hardier than humanity who could take over once they were gone. And creatures the Zardexians couldn't get to in the middle of the ocean.  
  
Alex stroked the back of the dolphin's head with her palm, leaning over its back tiredly. "Please... I need you to take me to land that way." Alex pointed toward the east. The dolphin looked at her hand, then clicked up at her again. "That way, please. I don't know how much longer I can hold onto you. I'm so tired..." Alex moaned pathetically.  
  
The dolphin clicked and chattered, almost as if in confusion. Alex moaned and leaned across its back, shooting her hand past it's nose toward the desired direction. "Pleeaaase..." Alex moaned. The dolphin looked at her hand, then looked in the desired direction. It clicked again and started moving through the water, forcing Alex to cling weakly to its dorsal fin to keep from being thrown free.  
  
The dolphin flew through the water at a brisk pace as Alex clung to it desperately. The sun vanished behind the horizon long ago when she finally saw the beach looming close in front of them. "Yes... thank God..." Alex croaked as the dolphin swam up toward the shore as close as it could. From there Alex treaded water until she could put her feet on the ground and walked up the beach on violently shaking legs. She collapsed to the sand face-first.  
  
Alex turned her head to look back at the dolphin. "Thank you, friend..." Alex waved weakly. The dolphin chattered back and turned to dart into the ocean and out of sight. Alex sighed and let her head fall to the sand; her whole body going limp as she quickly fell into a deep, rejuvenating sleep. The darkness came and went without even a hint of dreams.  
  
Alex pushed herself up, surprised to find that the sun was already at its zenith. "Wow... one sun." Alex pushed herself up slowly. Her muscles were screaming in protest after their exhausting effort yesterday, but she pushed herself up to her feet anyway. "This is Earth..." She smiled slightly. "I can't believe I started to miss it..."  
  
She took a deep breath and started walking away from the water. She knew the cities weren't safe, there were crazy people of all kinds that dwelled within them. Those who were too crazy or stupid to leave the places where they lived most of their lives. She knew it wouldn't be easy to get through them, but Sam and Clover had to be somewhere, and she had every intention of finding them.  
  
As it turned out, crossing the city of San Francisco was easier than she thought. Though it was far from pleasant. Every building in the city was a pile of rubble, with the ground itself torn apart in various places. Limp bodies and pools of blood littered the streets, as though just another normal part of the destruction that seemed to have engulfed the entire city.  
  
"No... I am too late..." Alex walked through the city, looking around in horror at the endless carnage around her. There wasn't a single person alive, there weren't even any animals left among the wreckage of the city. It was like walking through an ancient dead city, but she knew this was far from ancient. This was recent...  
  
Alex fell to her knees in despair. "Tell me... this isn't how the whole WORLD is..." She muttered desperately. She knew better than to hope though, if the Zardexian fleet had come in force, no human could've survived.  
  
She sniffled, then looked up when she felt a soft wind brush over her body. It felt almost soothing, a gentle caress over her bare skin. She stood up straight, breathing through her mouth to avoid the smell of decay that hung over the city. She turned to follow the wind, letting it push her forward. She wasn't sure why really... but what else was there to do?  
  
She stumbled forward blindly, driven by the winds at her back and the stench of decay so strong she nearly passed out when she breathed through her nose. The winds drove her onward, almost feeling comforting after spending weeks in the forest where the wind couldn't reach, and then the space ship.  
  
She stumbled up a small hill as the sun dipped beyond the horizon and spotted a single intact tent at the bottom of the hill. She didn't see any signs of life, but there were also a few helicopters landed out front that looked like they were intact. They couldn't have just appeared here, someone had to fly them here.  
  
Alex stumbled down the hill and approached the tent cautiously, pushing the flap aside to peer into the tent. The winds at her back died down as she gasped and stepped inside. Rows of people dressed in soldiers' garb were lying on long rows of beds. Some were still breathing ragged, shallow breaths while others lay completely still and silent. Her eyes scanned the rows until she saw a familiar mop of red hair.  
  
"Sam!" Alex charged across the room and knelt down beside Sam's bunk, putting one hand on her forehead. She felt a bit cool, and her face was pale, but Alex could still see her chest rising and falling with her breath. "Sam wake up, talk to me!" Alex begged.  
  
Slowly Sam opened her eyes with some difficulty. It almost looked like her eyelids were too heavy for her to lift. "A... lex..." She barely moved her lips as she spoke.  
  
"I'm here Sam, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Alex asked worriedly.  
  
"T... toxin..." Sam replied softly.  
  
"Toxin... right, I can help!" Alex whipped off her backpack and dug around for the vials. She blinked in horror when she realized most of the vials were shattered, spilling the precious liquid over the entire bag. "No..." Alex dug for a while longer, and eventually found three intact vials. She pulled one out and popped it open, then grabbed Sam's head and gently poured half of the precious liquid down her throat. "There... you'll get better."  
  
"Give it... to the others..." Sam already sounded stronger.  
  
"I don't have enough for everyone." Alex replied.  
  
"Save as many as you can..." Sam told her. Alex nodded and stood up, looking around the medium-sized tent until she spotted Clover lying in a bed near the back. She rushed over and gently lifted Clover's head off the pillow to pour the remainder of the open vial into her mouth.  
  
Clover coughed and opened her eyes weakly. "Huh...? Alex...?" She asked.  
  
"We'll talk later." Alex picked up the last two vials and turned to scour the rest of the tent. She skipped past those people who weren't breathing anymore, trying to put them out of her mind as she searched for others who had managed to survive this long. She found a few and administered half a vial to each of them, including a boy who looked like he couldn't be over 18-years-old, a similarly-aged girl, and a purple-haired woman with a cold stare once she was able to open her eyes.  
  
Alex looked for someone else, since she had half a vial left, but nobody she checked after that was still breathing. At last she sighed and gave up, dropping the remainder of the bottle to the ground and rising to her feet. "Guess I just took too long..." Alex bowed her head in respect for a moment, then turned to walk outside of the tent where Clover, Sam and the others were already waiting.  
  
"Alex, I am so glad you showed up girl!" Clover wrapped her up in a tight hug, leaning against her since she was still a bit weak. "If it wasn't for you, we'd all be totally screwed right now..."  
  
"I promised Sam I would come back, and I did..." Alex said.  
  
"So you brought everything I asked you to?" Sam asked excitedly.  
  
"Well... yes and no..." Alex gulped. "I have half a vial of anti-toxin left, and I brought an Argathin cannon that I think can hurt the Zardexians... but the ship I brought back is lying on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean." Alex sighed. "Even with all this stuff, there's no way off the planet."  
  
"And with the Zardexians sure they won, they won't be coming back down even if we thought we could commandeer one of their ships..." The purple-haired woman commented. "They're probably long gone by now."  
  
"So I guess that means we get to repopulate the Earth." Clover nudged the only boy among them with her elbow. "Lucky you kid."  
  
"Eh...?" The boy's face turned bright red, but Alex stepped in to keep his head from popping with embarrassment.  
  
"No, we don't." Alex told them. "The Zardexians haven't left yet, they're still in orbit. They're the ones who damaged the ship I came back in. If we can get up to them with the weapon I stole... take them by surprise..."  
  
"And I suppose we're just going to swim through space." The purple-haired woman scoffed. "Even if they're still in orbit, we can't REACH them." She reminded Alex. Alex sighed and brought one hand up to rub her head in despair. She was right of course, they couldn't just hop in an elevator or something... but it was then that Alex realized Sam had been silent for a while.  
  
"Sam? Are you okay?" Alex asked worriedly.  
  
"Why are they still here?" Sam mused lightly. "It doesn't make sense, why are they still here? They've eaten just about everything on Earth..."  
  
"Maybe they decided to try tuna for a change?" Clover shrugged. "Does it matter?"  
  
"Tuna!" Alex snapped her fingers as she realized why the Zardexians would remain. "I think I know why they're still here! Because we forgot about the sea animals!" Alex pointed out. "There are still billions of creatures living in the ocean that we completely forgot about! A single whale could probably feed a whole lot of them!" Sam stared at her in surprise, then nodded in agreement.  
  
"Of course, Alex is right. They're sticking around because there's still a good source of nutrition on this planet." Sam said.  
  
"But since they can't breathe underwater, they're probably having trouble figuring out how to get to them." Clover added. "Giving us time to get up there and sabotage them somehow."  
  
"Aren't we still forgetting an important factor?" The purple-haired woman cut in. "It doesn't matter what they do or why they do it if we can't get to them!"  
  
"Calm down Madison, I have a plan." Sam said.  
  
"Madison!?" Alex whirled on the woman with the purple hair. "Little bratty Madison!? Wow! You've changed!"  
  
"A decade tends to do that to a person." Madison smirked.  
  
"We'll fill you in on the way Alex." Sam set off toward the helicopter. Alex, Clover, Madison, and the two young teens exchanged curious glances and looked after her.  
  
"On the way to where?" Clover asked.  
  
"To relive some of our worst WOOHP experiences." Sam smirked. Alex and Clover blinked while the other three just looked clueless. Finally Alex gulped and let out a sigh. She'd been sure the frightening and harrowing adventures in traveling along WOOHP methods were long over with. It looked like there was one more ride though...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	23. Rejecting the Past

Part 22: Rejecting the Past  
  
She'd spent a lot of time running around the Earth that she could remember, going from place to place, being betrayed and turned away by person after person. It had lasted for three years, and before that she hadn't even been ABLE to run. And through it all she'd been frightened... frightened more than she could ever say. But now here she was, finally among those who seemed to have no intention but to help her...  
  
And she was more frightened now than she'd ever been.  
  
She was just waiting for them to configure the Genetic Resequencer, which they would use to change her back into Zardexian shape. Most Zardexians could resume their old form at will, but for some reason Mandy couldn't. Another in a long line of things that were wrong with her. She still couldn't remember anything, though Tarren promised she would remember once she had her old shape back. But remembering scared her as much as the process itself did.  
  
What would happen to her if she suddenly remembered a whole other life? This was the life she knew, the life she'd lived for the last several weeks. Would this life simply have no more meaning once she remembered what really happened? Would the person she was now, be it Mandy or some other entity she had yet to know, completely cease to exist?  
  
She looked up from her large and very soft bed when she heard the door open. Tarren, still in human form for her benefit, stepped inside and gave her a warm smile. "We're ready for you Zeninia." He told her gently. Mandy stood up slowly and walked toward him.  
  
"Will it hurt?" She asked.  
  
"It shouldn't, if everything goes smoothly." Tarren told her. He gripped her arm and gently led her into the hallway, toward the resequencer room in the middle of the ship near the bridge. Mandy walked with him, not speaking to any of the grotesque aliens that passed them in the hallway.  
  
Tarren led her into the resequencer room, where several other Zardexians were gathered around a large glass tube in the middle of the room. They turned toward her when she entered, though they didn't speak or move to attack. Mandy's heart beat hard in her chest, though she knew they wouldn't attack her. She didn't know if she could get used to this...  
  
"Step inside my love, and soon, you will be yourself once again." Tarren led her to the open side of the glass tube. Mandy gulped and stepped inside, turning around to watch the other Zardexians close the door behind her.  
  
"Sir!" Someone shouted in the Zardexian language as he... or she... rolled quickly into the room. It stopped as all eyes turned toward it. "We've detected something strange on our sensors. It's too small to harm us, but we wanted you to command us on what to do."  
  
"Bring it up here." Tarren gestured to a nearby computer screen. The Zardexian rolled over to it and turned it on, displaying the stars outside the ship. The Zardexians stared at it blankly, and Mandy blinked in confusion. It looked like a single relatively tiny missile was streaking through space heading right toward the Zardexian flagship she was on board.  
  
"What is that? A piece of debris?" Tarren asked.  
  
"It fits the specifications of a human missile that our advance scout sent to us sir." The other Zardexian replied. "But we've detected no explosives on board." He said.  
  
"Blast it into-" Tarren stopped when they all felt a small vibration run through the ship, and the small missile in the screen embedded itself in the side of the ship. It looked like a tiny needle plunging into the side of the old Statue of Liberty.  
  
"It has... uh... collided with us sir." The Zardexian stated.  
  
"Yes, thank you." Tarren smirked and turned to Mandy. "You stay here and complete the procedure while I see about this nuisance." He nodded to the Zardexians gathered around the tube before turning to leave with the one that had come to warn them. Mandy gulped and looked around as the others moved toward the control panel.  
  
Who could have fired that missile? Everyone was dead, their bodies stopped by the Zardexian toxin. The only way it could have been fired was if... someone survived... maybe SHE survived...  
  
Mandy looked up when she heard an electric hum erupt from the ceiling. It opened up and several small mechanical arms began to descend toward her. "Wait... no! I changed my mind! I don't want to be turned into a Zardexian!" Mandy pounded on the glass desperately.  
  
"Relax mistress, you will be back to normal very soon." The Zardexian outside the tube told her comfortingly.  
  
"No! No!" Mandy pounded harder as she arms moved toward her. A needle was sticking out of one of them, the tip glinting with moisture. Mandy howled in fear and raised one fist behind her head, clenching it tightly. When it came forward it was pulsing with violet energy as it tore through the glass, sending a hail of glass shards into the alien in front of her.  
  
Mandy leapt out of the tube and landed on the ground, whirling in surprise. "What do you think you're doing!?" The other Zardexian exclaimed in surprise. Mandy growled and charged toward it, punching it in the middle of the ball hard enough to send it hurtling into the wall with a sickening splash. Mandy leapt after it and started pummeling it in a blind rage.  
  
The world around her faded until finally she stopped. Her hands were covered in purple liquid... and almost looked like they were glowing. Upon closer inspection, they WERE glowing, but the glow soon faded. "What the Hell...?" Mandy mused in confusion. Why was she glowing? And why was she able to kill a Zardexian with her bare hands? At the most she should be their EQUAL in strength... shouldn't she?  
  
She looked up in surprise when red lights began to flash, and a voice began to chant in the Zardexian tongue. "Intruders, all hands at arms! Hunt them down and dispose of them immediately!" The voice shouted viciously.  
  
"Intruders...?" Mandy stood up in excitement. If there were intruders, some humans must have survived... and that meant Clover could still be among them. "Fuck Zeninia, I'm happy with who I am." She marched out of the resequencer room with her fists clenched to find the woman who'd captured her heart.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	24. The Nature of Life

Part 23: The Nature of Life  
  
A large grotesque ball of skin and muscle rolled up to the nose of the missile, sticking through the thick outer shell of the massive Zardexian flagship that had so quickly laid the Earth to ruin. It approached the missile and laid its tentacles on the tip, examining it until it noticed a small opening on the underside of the missile. It moved carefully underneath until it heard a soft hum of energy charging up.  
  
Suddenly the ball exploded backward, coating the far wall in violet alien blood. The black hole that had been its core dissipated instantly, allowing Alex to slide out of the missile with the Argathin energy launcher perched on one shoulder as the searched around for any sign of others.  
  
"I think the coast is clear, come on!" Alex hissed furiously. Sam, Clover, Madison, and the two teenagers, Mason and Lisa, slipped out of the missile behind her.  
  
"I swear, I am never traveling by cruise missile again. Especially with a boy." Clover glared at Mason.  
  
"Hey, it's not like there was any position I could be in where I WOULDN'T touch you girls." Mason complained.  
  
"Shut up and concentrate! We have to move!" Sam hissed. She waited for the others to nod before the turned to Alex, who in turn moved down the hall with the energy cannon held out in front of her. Red lights flashed around them, either revealing another peculiar aspect of Zardexian culture, or giving a warning that they were present in the ship.  
  
Alex stopped and gestured for the others to stop as well when she heard a rolling sound coming from further down the corridor they were about to enter. Alex clutched the energy cannon in her arms, pressing the button to charge it up and listening for the Zardexian. She heard it move closer and closer, until she could smell it just feet away from her.  
  
Within the span of three seconds she whirled into the hall and pulled the trigger on the cannon. The bright blue blast ripped through the Zardexian and sent it up against the wall in the form of a fine, chunky paste before it even had time to open its hideous jaws. Without missing a beat Alex gestured for the others to advance and jogged down the newly empty hallway.  
  
She slid up against the wall toward another corner and peered around, spotting several Zardexians moving toward them. She quickly set the cannon to a wide beam and slid down the wall to make herself less visible. The others crowded behind her, watching nervously as she listened to the rolling noises approaching rapidly.  
  
When she saw the hideous rolling figure she raised the cannon and pulled the trigger. A wide beam of pure blue light surged out of the cannon, slamming into both of the aliens. They hurtled through the hallway into the far wall with heavy, sickeningly wet thumps. Alex struggled to hold the cannon steady as the aliens roared in anger, but the brilliant blue light finally sliced through them, silencing their cries.  
  
"It'd take a miracle for nobody to have heard that." Clover quipped.  
  
"Then we move fast. Come on, we have to find their shuttles. They're our only chance to get out of here and join the village on the Argathin home world!" Sam charged down the hall past Alex, who joined the others in following just behind her.  
  
They made their way into a thankfully empty room as a group of Zardexians passed by. The humans leaned against the walls, panting heavily until the rolling noises had faded into the distance. "I'm going to have a heart attack soon." Clover panted.  
  
"So, anyone have any idea which way the shuttles are?" Sam asked curiously. Silence dominated the room until Madison spoke from across the room.  
  
"Take a look at this. I think it's a map." Madison stated, looking at a poster on the wall. The others approached, and indeed now that Alex could see it closer, it was a map... but there was something familiar about it...  
  
"These symbols... they're the same ones the Argathins used on their maps. Well... almost." Alex stared at the symbols in surprise. "They're a little different, but they're pretty similar too."  
  
"Why would the Zardexians and Argathins use the same symbols?" Sam asked. "For that matter, why do they look so much like something we humans would use too?" She contemplated. "Could we all have common ancestry...?  
  
"Time enough for philosophical questioning later." Madison said coldly. "We have to get to the shuttle bay and get out of here." She pointed to a picture of a generic looking shuttle over one of the rooms that was near the one marked with the red dot indicating their position. "It's not too far from here, we should be able to make it undetected if we're fast."  
  
They all blinked when they heard a sickening growl erupted form the doorway. Without even looking Alex pointed the cannon at the door and pulled the trigger. The splat against the wall outside the room told them that the blast had hit its mark.  
  
"Come on, we've gotta get moving!" Alex exclaimed.  
  
They ran as fast as they could down the hall, ducking into hallways when they heard groups coming, or having Alex simply blast the lone Zardexians they encountered into a sickening thick purple paste. They whirled into the shuttle bay they'd found on the map to see a fleet of shuttles... but there was also a small fleet of Zardexians between them and the shuttles.  
  
"We're fucked..." Lisa gulped fearfully. "We are so fucked..."  
  
"Not as long as we're breathing." Alex raised the cannon, putting her free hand on the top as it charged up. The Zardexians let out low growls and rolled slowly toward them, the toxin dripping from the ends of their tentacles to the floor plates beneath them. They were almost out of anti-toxin, one touch of those tentacles would be a death sentence.  
  
"Bravery is one thing Alex, but this is just suicide. We have to run, and try to find another shuttle bay somewhere." Sam grabbed Alex's arm tightly. Alex looked back at her quickly.  
  
"You guys go, I'll meet you outside." Alex said.  
  
"Alex, don't be stupid! There's like a dozen of them!" Clover complained.  
  
"I can handle it!" Alex looked sidelong at the hangar doors a small distance away, then looked at Clover again. Clover blinked in surprise, then shook her head even as Sam stepped between them.  
  
"Alex, forget it..." Sam said.  
  
"I know what I'm doing. I'll be okay, just go." Alex turned back to the Zardexians, who were crowded in front of them, flexing their tentacles eagerly though they seemed wary of the cannon in Alex's hands. Could such a cold, murderous race really be afraid to die like they were? It didn't seem right, but it seemed to be true.  
  
"Good luck Alex." Madison said for the speechless women before turning to leave. Sam, Clover, Lisa and Mason turned to follow her, leaving Alex alone with the Zardexian army. The Latino woman looked around at them, holding the fully charged weapon up in front of her to keep them back.  
  
"So... you're scared of death?" Alex asked, not really expecting an answer. Nor did she get one. "You've killed enough people... you've slaughtered everyone. It's about time someone made YOU afraid..." She growled.  
  
"And you believe you're better than us?" A voice spoke from the door. Alex whirled and trained the cannon on a human looking man. He was rather handsome, but his comfortable stance and calm expression let her know that he wasn't how he seemed. "You humans are as much murderers as we are... every single one of you is willing to kill to survive."  
  
"Shut up." Alex growled. "There's a huge difference between us and you. We've never tried to wipe anyone out... we've never caused the kind of pain you have. We respect the things we have to kill."  
  
"Bullshit." The man replied calmly. "You kill to survive, and we kill to survive. Your 'respect' is simply a custom you created to make yourselves feel superior." The man approached Alex until the cannon was pressed against his hard, muscled chest. "In truth, you would kill to preserve yourself and your species... wouldn't you? You'd kill in cold blood to save yourself and those you love."  
  
Alex just stared at him, her finger shaking on the trigger. She wanted to deny it, to scream that she wasn't like him... but she could still remember the Argathin child limp in her arms. It had felt like a doll, a simple little doll... but she still remembered how it begged to be spared... before she'd murdered it to save the people of her village.  
  
"So would we." The man told her. Alex's eyes widened when she caught sight of a tentacle entering her peripheral vision. Before she could respond a hail of tentacles wrapped around her body, one of them knocking the weapon to the floor in front of the man.  
  
"Hey! Whmphmpmh!" Alex shouted in fear and surprise as the tentacles wrapped tightly around her body, pinning her arms to her sides, her legs closed, and lifting her off the ground. Her voice grew muffled when one tentacle wrapped around her mouth like a gag. Alex screamed desperately and tried to struggle, but the tentacles wouldn't even begin to budge.  
  
"Now... human..." the man approached her with a dangerous glint in his eye. Alex panted fearfully, feeling the tentacles holding her body stiff more than a foot above the floor. "If you're here, there must be other survivors..." He raised one hand and touched her cheek. It seemed like a comforting gesture, but it didn't feel like one at all. "So let's talk..."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	25. Mandy Oh Mandy

Part 24: Mandy Oh Mandy  
  
Amanda Delaroyale marched down the hallway of the Zardexian flagship with her fists clenched tightly at her sides. The flashing red lights illuminated her path, almost guiding her through the ship as she searched for something... was she searching for Clover? She had no idea if her blonde lover was even alive, let alone one of the intruders in this ship. For all she knew, this group was completely unrelated to the friends she'd left behind on Earth. Wishful thinking she supposed... but thoughts she needed.  
  
"Zeninia?" A Zardexian voice sounded surprised when she marched through a small bedroom on her way to nowhere in particular. "Why are you here in human f-" The alien didn't have time to finish before Mandy plunged her fist into its core and hurled it against the wall. Her body flashed with violet energy that roared through her veins, giving her a strange glow for a few moments before dying down.  
  
She left the bedroom through the opposite door and turned to march down the hall again. Her mind was racing now, perhaps a product of the strange violet power that ran through her body, or perhaps her old madness creeping back into the forefront. Either way, she could barely think recognizable thoughts anymore. She wanted to search... that was all she knew.  
  
She turned down another hallway, then stopped when she noticed her entire body beginning to glow with violet light again. It rose from her body like a flame, but she didn't feel anything. The fiery glow moved toward the window beside her, drawing her gaze to it.  
  
The sound of a whale's song entered her mind, like a scream for attention from the glowing violet energy that moved along the ship outside the window. It looked fairly small for something so otherwise impressive, only about as big as a normal person. After taunting her for a moment, it moved out of view up the side of the ship.  
  
"Wait... wait!" Mandy charged down the hall, trying to pace it. The glowing violet flames continued to rise from her body as she ran, leaving a strange trail of energy floating in the air behind her. She ran faster than she knew she could, and was drawn by a force the likes of which she'd never known.  
  
She burst through a door to find herself facing a small gathering of Zardexians, huddled in the middle of the room and watching a screen set into the ceiling. On the screen a series of symbols were being displayed... words Mandy could recognize somehow.  
  
"Remain calm." The words read. "The intruders will be apprehended shortly. There is nothing to fear. Our might is unbeatable." The screen shut off and the Zardexians began muttering and whispering among themselves. Mandy tried to push through them to the door on the other side of the room, but one of the aliens grabbed her shoulder with one tentacle.  
  
"How foolish are you, human?" It demanded haughtily. "To think you could walk through us without-"  
  
It didn't have a chance to finish its taunt before Mandy whirled and plunged her fist through it, tearing into its stomach. It stiffened in shock, then began to wriggle and try to move away from her. Mandy yanked her fist out of it and watched it roll away before collapsing limply to the floor.  
  
"My God..." One of the Zardexians murmured fearfully. Mandy turned her gaze on the gathered group. The entire room slowly moved away from her, shivering in astonishment and fear.  
  
"Hunting isn't so fun when YOU'RE the prey... is it?" Mandy growled in a language she didn't remember ever speaking before. The silence returned until Mandy turned to leave through the opposite door. The violet glow had faded, but she could still feel its pull from somewhere near the front of the ship.  
  
She approached a sturdy door that refused to open... so she wound up and knocked it clear into the offending inaccessible room. The metallic thumps of the door hitting the ground were drowned out by the panicked cries of the crew as the violet energy flowed outside the front window of the ship.  
  
"Our fire doesn't seem to be having affect on it!" One of the Zardexians at the control panels exclaimed fearfully. "It's not getting any weaker, it's taken out most of our outer weapons array!"  
  
"Fire more missiles at it!" The captain in the middle of the room shouted.  
  
"Yes sir!" The helmsmen turned to their consoles to open further fire upon the violet creature out front. Mandy could feel it in her body... in her veins... in her mind. The violet power began to well up around her body again, stronger than ever. So did the call, compelling her forward across the bridge as the stunned Zardexians watched her.  
  
"Zeninia, you should not be up here like that." The captain told her. "What has happened to you? Zeninia?" Mandy ignored them, marching through the bridge to the forward window. The manta ray-esque shape floated outside, glittering brightly in the darkness of space with the starlight surrounding it. She could hear the gentle whale's song in her mind again. Beckoning her. She had to reach it.  
  
She lifted her fist behind her, pulsing with violet energy. "Zeninia! No!" The Zardexians around her screamed in fear, but she paid them no heed. Her fist broke through the window easily, sending the glass shards flying out into the vacuum of space. She gasped in shock when she realized what she'd just done, and tried to stop herself, but the suction was too strong and she was pulled out into the stars.  
  
She blinked in shock, radiating violet energy. She could feel her lungs being compressed... the pressure of space was quickly taking its toll on her, despite her newfound power. Her chest began to ache... but suddenly the violet form swept over her, engulfing her. Suddenly she could breath again, blanketed by the warm purple light.  
  
"You..." A soft voice echoed in her head. Despite its softness, Mandy could feel a palpable hatred radiating from it. "I thought I killed you before you could take over my life... my name..."  
  
"M... Mandy..." Mandy muttered softly. "You're the real... original... Mandy?" She whispered.  
  
"Of course I am!" The voice howled back angrily. "You life-stealing, manipulative little murderer!" Mandy blinked, then howled as the violet energy began to surge through her body like a lightning strike. It felt like her nerves were on fire.  
  
"Please... stop! STOP!" Mandy howled. Finally the energy stopped and Mandy hung limp in the glowing violet aura, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I... I don't remember being... a murderer..." She gulped. "I don't remember anything..."  
  
"Why should I believe you? Why does it matter? Nothing would make me happier than killing you right now." The voice rumbled deep inside her mind. Mandy shook her head furiously.  
  
"Please... don't." Mandy begged. "I AAAAAAGGGHH!" She howled in pain as another wave of energy swept through her, tearing through her nerves and igniting all of her senses. She was sure her body was going to explode any second. "P... Please... no..." Mandy begged desperately as tears flowed down already moist cheeks. "I don't... wanna... die..."  
  
The energy stopped again and Mandy fell limp, sobbing uncontrollably in pain and helplessness. "I... I don't remember... I don't remember wanting to hurt anyone..." Mandy gulped.  
  
"You don't remember?" The voice growled in her mind. "I'll make you remember!" The voice rose to a scream, and a stream of energy rushed through Mandy's brain. Mandy let out a tortured scream, her entire body convulsing under the assault on her mind. She shuddered in pain and horror, feeling like her mind was going to snap until suddenly memories began to trickle back...  
  
"Just a little while longer, Zeninia..." One of her crew-members informed her with a cold, official tone of voice. "We're beginning the genetic resequencing... now." Zeninia looked up as the ceiling above her opened, and the mechanical arms moved down toward her bulbous Zardexian body. She closed her eyes, thinking of the last moments she'd spent with her lover before being sent on this mission.  
  
"Once this is over..." He'd told her tenderly, with his limbs wrapped around her, stroking her. "Our people will be fed for years to come... we will be able to relax and enjoy our time together."  
  
"I will make sure that we have that peace, my love..." Zeninia replied.  
  
"Beginning memory implant." One of the scientists outside her tube stated. Zeninia twitched with her new human limbs as a flood of images entered her mind, spreading to every part of it. She could remember everything, from the faces of Mandy's past to the events of her death. It was remarkable... never had a Zardexian been infused with such powerful memories. Memories of hatred... pain... anguish... love. All mixed together in a complex cyclone. It was more than she could bare, and she leaned against the glass.  
  
"Zeninia!" One of the scientists shouted worriedly. Suddenly the warning lights began to flash.  
  
"Sir! We've spotted something approaching us on radar!" One of the pilots shouted. "It... it looks like a patch of static. We can't identify it with any of our sensors."  
  
"Could it be a malfunction?" One of the scientists asked.  
  
"Possib... What is THAT!?" One of the pilots screamed. Zeninia forced her eyes open through the flood of painful memories. A shining violet shape soared through the crisp, blue Earth air toward them, a cry of sheer anger piercing the minds of everyone on board the ship. It flew straight toward them, pulsing with energy.  
  
"Avoid it! Now!" The captain shouted quickly. The ship turned, but not nearly fast enough. The violet form tore through the hull like it wasn't even there, ripping the ship apart like a child's toy. Zardexian screams and the sound of metal tearing from metal filled the air, until the glass around Zeninia cracked open. The arms that were operating on her gave way before they could finish their work, plunging Zeninia into a state of confusion.  
  
She felt the floor under her feet give way, torn apart by the force of the entity that moved down upon them. She gasped in shock as the violet shape swept over her, engulfing her in violet energy that felt so familiar... it was like she'd lost it and only just now found it again. This feeling held until she lost consciousness within the violet energy field.  
  
Mandy's eyes opened finally, to find the violet energy once again surrounding her as it had before. "You... I... don't understand..."  
  
"I thought you would die. I wanted you to suffer, I thought if the impact didn't kill you, starvation would." The voice told her darkly. "If I knew you would survive, I would've killed you like I did the other filthy murderous vermin."  
  
"Please... don't kill me." Mandy begged. "I know I seem like I probably deserve it..." She closed her eyes. "But... I didn't hate anybody..."  
  
"Shut up!" The violet energy poured through her again, tearing into her. She screamed in agony. "You're a blight on the universe, you and your whole Goddamned race! I may not be strong enough to do anything about them... but I can have the satisfaction of taking you out just like that sleaze ball you called a comrade, The Reverend! Now shut up and die!"  
  
Mandy howled in agony as the power roared through her. No... not Mandy... was she? This was Mandy... Mandy was the being trying to kill her... and rightly so. Everything she'd gone through... Zeninia knew very well. She knew better than anyone could. This pain she felt now felt like nothing compared to the kind of torture Mandy had gone through in her life.  
  
"Y... you're right!" Zeninia screamed into the pulsing violet cloud. She must have caught Mandy off guard, because the torture ceased for the moment. Zeninia relaxed, sobbing in pain and hugging herself in a desperate bid for comfort. "You're right..." She sniffled. "You're right... what... what we did to you... is unforgivable..." She closed her eyes. "But I didn't know... exactly what was happening..."  
  
Her memories were slowly returning, but she found herself wishing they weren't. Looking at her life through the human perspective Mandy's memories provided left her with only one conclusion. "I... am a monster... we all are..." She shuddered in revulsion. "I never even realized... but I don't want to be a monster anymore... I don't want to kill anyone that way anymore!"  
  
"Are you asking me for forgiveness? For pity?" Mandy's voice scoffed in her mind. "You're barking up the wrong tree, Zardexian. I have no forgiveness for you or your kind."  
  
"Please..." Zeninia begged desperately, lowering her chin to her chest. "I'm not a Zardexian anymore..." She squeezed her eyes shut, choking back her sobs of fear and pain. "I don't want to be a Zardexian... I've felt what humanity can be like. So calm... so gentle..." She trailed off for a moment, then opened her eyes and lifted her chin high again. "I want to be human..."  
  
"Bahahahahaha!" Mandy's laughter echoed in her mind mockingly. "You? Human? Don't make me laugh. You're not talking your way out of this."  
  
"Then... please... at least... let me help set things right. With the humanity that remains... and with Clover..." Zeninia begged softly. "Then..." She gulped. "I'll let you kill me."  
  
"Let me kill you? Like you could stop me." Mandy mocked.  
  
"Clover's in danger. I... you... loved her once. Her... and Alex." Zeninia replied. The voice in her head fell silent. "As long as the Zardexians exist they're in danger... but I think together we might be able to make a difference..." The voice remained silent for a long time, as the violet energy swirled around her in random patterns.  
  
"Okay... we'll do what we must first." Mandy told her. "Then you will die."  
  
"Fair enough..." Zeninia replied softly. "We should move fast... there's no telling what they'll do now..."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	26. Cold Destiny

Part 25: Cold Destiny  
  
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Mason shouted as he charged ahead of the group of girls down the hall toward the second docking bay they'd found on a nearby map of the ship.  
  
"Such chivalry." Clover smirked. Sam and Lisa chuckled, but Madison remained silent. They ran through the winding hallways, struggling to keep up with Mason until he turned into another room. The flashing red lights didn't really help them move any faster, but eventually they did catch up to him and turn into what should have been a secondary docking bay.  
  
"Wh... where are all the ships!?" Clover shouted in surprise. The entire bay was empty, like a giant steel tomb. "What the Hell is going on here!? There were ships in the OTHER docking bay!"  
  
"Something must've happened to make them abandon ship..." Sam looked up at the ceiling, from which the Zardexian voice was grumbling in an endlessly repeating pattern. "If only we knew what that warning meant."  
  
"We know well enough what it means. We need to get off this ship, now." Madison replied.  
  
"How do we do that without any SHIPS!?" Clover pointed out, her voice rising as she began to panic. Madison slapped her across the face calmly, then turned to look at the outer door of the docking bay. It was huge and tightly shut. Mason was standing in front of it, crying softly to himself and dropping down to his knees in despair.  
  
"We find a ship." Madison replied simply.  
  
"And if there aren't any?" Clover demanded.  
  
"Why bother even asking that?" Madison smirked. Clover fell silent. "Come on, the quicker we move the better the chance we'll find a way off." She turned to walk away from the others, letting them either follow or stay behind. Clover and Sam turned to follow her, but Mason stayed in the docking bay. Lisa looked back at him, then hung behind as well.  
  
"Should we go back for them?" Clover asked when they were out of earshot.  
  
"They'll catch up to us..." Sam stated. Then she added softly. "If they want to." Clover nodded solemnly as they walked through the suspiciously empty halls. Occasionally they had to duck to the side as a small group of Zardexians or two rolled past them, but there weren't nearly as many of them as one would've suspected a ship this size to carry.  
  
"Why am I getting a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach?" Clover quipped drolly.  
  
"Try to relax, Clover, we'll get out of here. It's not the end of the line yet." Sam gave her a comforting smile and squeezed her shoulder. In a few moments they rounded a corner and came to a stop when they saw a thick steel door blocking the hallway in front of them. There was a thick glass window in the upper middle of it, and above it was a sign with strange words and a picture that matched the 'bridge' symbol on the maps they'd been following.  
  
"Okay, is THIS the end of the line?" Clover asked drolly. Madison and Sam ignored her, approaching the window and peering through curiously. They could see the bridge on the other side, but it was empty. The front window was completely missing, opening the bridge out into the field of stars beyond. In front of the ship they could see the blue orb of the Earth growing larger and larger.  
  
"Someone blew out the window in the bridge..." Madison growled. "And this ship is drifting into the Earth's atmosphere. If we don't get out of here, we'll either burn up on reentry or be crushed on impact."  
  
"So yeah, end of the line." Clover smirked.  
  
"I think the map said the next docking bay was over this way..." Sam pointed down another hallway. "Come on, there's still a chance we can make it." She took off down the hallway, with Madison and Clover running quickly behind her. They reached the docking bay and ran inside, skidding to a stop when they saw it, too, empty.  
  
"Uh... should we find another one...?" Clover asked softly.  
  
"Damnit..." Sam growled and clenched her fists. "There's no point... all the ships are gone. They abandoned the ship and didn't leave us anything. We're dead!" She howled as she collapsed to her knees.  
  
"Maybe we could find our way back to the missile we came in on?" Clover suggested half-heartedly.  
  
"One, we don't know where it is from here." Madison pointed out. "Two, what would we do then? We couldn't steer it from the inside, we got lucky we hit this ship or we would've kept hurtling endlessly through space." She scoffed. Clover hung her head, looking down at her redheaded friend. Sam began to laugh lightly, her shoulders shaking.  
  
"Ironic isn't it? Alex flies across the galaxy to save us, only for us to fail miserably with the second chance she sacrificed her life to give us..." She sighed deeply. "Some heroes we are... we saved the world a hundred times from insane lunatics, but we just can't get a leg up here..."  
  
"We don't know that Alex is dead..." Clover pointed out half-heartedly.  
  
"Stop being stupid." Madison scolded her sternly. "Neither foolish optimism or pessimism are going to help us. We have to try to find a way off of this ship. Now."  
  
"I think we're all open to suggestions." Clover glared at Madison acidly. "If you've got a big grand plan, let's hear it."  
  
"At least I'm trying to think of one instead of blubbering like you two." Madison scowled.  
  
"Why you heartless little bitch." Clover stomped up to her, snarling angrily. "You don't even care that Mandy's gone, Alex is missing, and both Mason and Lisa left us, do you?" She growled. "Of course not. All you care about is your own Goddamn pride."  
  
"I've been through just as much shit as you two. Possibly more." Madison replied coolly, though there was a sharp anger in her eyes. "And I didn't get this far by constantly grieving the things I lost or giving up when it looked like things were about to come crashing down around my ears. Now if you two want to stand here and wait to die, go ahead, but I'm going to at least look for an alternative." She turned to walk toward the door.  
  
Sam sighed, muttering more to herself than to anyone else. "Hope is such a precious thing... even if false it can lead to a truth that one might not have seen without its light..."  
  
"Sammy?" Clover blinked in confusion.  
  
"Wait up, Madison." Sam pushed herself to her feet and turned toward the violet haired woman. Madison stopped and turned to look back at them coolly. "You're right... it's better to die hoping there's a way out than to give up and lie down. Come on, we should head back to the bridge. If there's any indication of a way off, it might be there."  
  
"But the bridge is completely sealed off, and even if we could get in, we'd be sucked into space." Clover pointed out.  
  
"It's the only course of action we have right now. We'll settle details when we get there." Sam replied. "Now come on, we probably don't have much time left." She walked past Madison out into the corridor and turned to head toward the bridge. Clover and Madison exchanged a quick glance, then turned to follow quickly after their redheaded companion.  
  
They reached the bridge in short order, where Sam walked up to the window to peer through it. It looked the same as before, but out the front window she could see the Earth looming larger and larger before them. It wouldn't be much longer before the ship plummeted through the Earth's atmosphere.  
  
"Maybe if we can find some kind of space suit and go operate the thruster controls..." Sam mused. "We could change the ship's trajectory..."  
  
"Yeah, a biiiiig round space suit." Clover smirked. "I'm sure that'd be real easy to maneuver in."  
  
"Wait, that is a good point actually." Madison stated. "If there is a space suit around, we may be able to use one as an escape pod. After all, the Zardexians are huge and round, one of their space suits may comfortably fit all of us."  
  
"Great, so we could float around in a big-ass bubble. Then what?" Clover asked.  
  
"One step at a time. Maybe those space-suits have thrusters in them so we can move around." Sam said. "For now, just look for anything that resembles a space suit." So they set about searching for anything that looked big and round that was air-tight and looked like they had thrusters on them. They searched room after room with no luck until Clover opened a nearby door and stared in surprise.  
  
"Whoa... guys, come get a look at this." Clover stepped inside slowly. Sam and Madison rushed up behind her to walk inside. They both gasped when they saw a crate of vials sitting against the far wall of what looked like a storage closet. But this crate looked familiar and was marked with the name of the substance inside...  
  
"The Faustium they took from Moscow." Madison marched up to the crate and knelt down to pull out a vial of the dark violet liquid. "It seems they didn't think it was a threat to them as long as they had it... not enough of a threat to destroy anyway."  
  
"It's too bad about its little... side effect." Clover smirked. "Or we could use it to get out of here."  
  
"Yeah, this won't do us any good. We need to get back to searching for a space suit or anything that CAN get us out of here without blowing up." Sam agreed with an authoritative nod.  
  
"Here." Madison stood up and tossed Sam and Clover each a vial of Faustium. "You never know what'll happen. If we have no other choice, we can use it and at least take as many of those bastards with us as possible." Sam and Clover exchanged a quick glance, then looked back at Madison and nodded grimly. If they had no other choice, a good suicide bombing was all they could do.  
  
They went back to their search with renewed vigor, not really wanting to blow themselves up. It took them awhile, but at last they found what looked like a large storage closet with metal suits lining the walls shaped like Zardexian bodies.  
  
"Metal?" Clover blinked and approached one, grabbing a tentacle. To her surprise it was as solid around as steel, but bent this way and that like cloth. "Whoa... talk about space-age stuff."  
  
"No duh. They're space aliens Clover, they're gonna have space-age stuff. Now hurry up and help us drag this thing back to the bridge." Sam grabbed a tentacle and yanked, but the thing weighed as much as steel. As they strained to pull it out, Clover noticed a small control device on a nearby shelf. "This must control the suit..." Sam stuffed it in a pocket and resumed pulling.  
  
They reached the bridge panting and sweating from the effort of pulling the steel space suit through the corridors. The Earth through the window was looming dangerously close. It would be only a few minutes before they ran out of time.  
  
"What now? How do we get outside the ship from here?" Clover asked.  
  
"Easy. We open this door, and let the suction from space yank us out of the ship. From there, we should be able to get away before the ship drags us down into the Earth's atmosphere." Sam walked up to the thick Zardexian door and stared curiously down at the control pad. It was constructed with dozens of buttons on its face, each adorned with a strange... but strangely familiar symbol on it. They weren't quite letters... but not quite unfamiliar either.  
  
"If you're going to be opening that thing, I'll be waiting in the bubble." Clover turned to the space suit. "If I can figure out how, that is..." She coughed. Sam smirked and reached into her pocket to press a button on the controller, that split the suit in half and opened it up for easy access. "Ah... yeah, that's fine."  
  
"Clover, hold onto this." Sam tossed her the controller while Madison climbed into the bubble as well.  
  
"What? Why?" Clover asked.  
  
"I have to stay out here to open the door... if I can't get back to the suit before we're all sucked out, you'll need it to pilot..." Sam trailed off and turned back to the control panel.  
  
"What? No, Sam, you get in and I'll-" Clover was cut off.  
  
"You'll what? Figure out how to operate an alien door mechanism?" Sam smirked. "Stay in that suit, and hold on. The second it starts to move toward the bridge, close it up, no matter where I am. Got it?"  
  
"No..."  
  
"Got it!?" Sam snapped. Behind her head through the window the Earth was looming even larger, covering the entire view outside the front of the ship by now. Clover gulped and nodded slowly, sitting down in the bubble-like suit with Madison behind her.  
  
Sam tapped lightly at the control console, slowly figuring out what all the buttons meant by matching them up with symbols she knew from Earth. It took a few minutes, but finally a voice spoke over the blaring alarms and the solid bridge doors began to open. Instantly the vacuum of space pulled at her, dragging her toward the window with the force of a thousand hurricanes.  
  
Sam leaned against the wall and clung to the rail behind her with all her might to avoid being sucked into the bridge just yet. The solid steel space suit was sucked toward the door, with Clover and Madison still sitting just inside of it.  
  
"Come on Sam, get in!" Clover screamed over the roaring wind.  
  
"I can't! If I let go, I'll be sucked right out!" Sam screamed back. "Close the suit!"  
  
"Not without you!" Clover screamed back.  
  
"Oh for Christ's sakes!" Madison slammed a fist into the back of Clover's throat, knocking her unconscious an grabbing the controller from her grip as the suit slid right into the bridge. The pressed the button quickly to close up the suit and the solid, glittering ball hurtled into space toward the Earth. Sam leaned against the wall and peered around the corner to make sure their jets started and they took off in another direction.  
  
Her breath grew more ragged as the oxygen was sucked into the infinite vacuum of space, and her arms were beginning to ache with the strain of holding on. Still she clung, panting heavily as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the vial of Faustium.  
  
"Bottom's up, bomb girl..." Sam raised the vial in a solemn salute, popped the cork, and downed its contents in one swift gulp. She gagged on the sour taste and threw the vial to the floor, the shards of which were promptly sucked out into space. Already she could feel it taking effect... surging through her veins, causing them to shake uncontrollably.  
  
Violet energy began to surge through her skin, solidifying around her until she couldn't feel anything. Not even the pull of the vacuum of space, nor the lack of oxygen that entailed seemed to effect her. She smirked and slid past the wall, letting herself be sucked out into the front of the ship. She was surprised to find that it was already entering the atmosphere in a sea of flames, as was she now... but she still didn't feel anything.  
  
She whirled in the air, bringing her hands up. The violet power surged upward with her motion, pushing her back into space just over the hull of the doomed vessel. She streaked into the starry sea like a purple comet, looking around for the targets of her soon-to-be martyrdom. She was surprised to see that they were leaving... if they were still looking to capture the sea creatures of Earth, why would they leave...?  
  
Well, it didn't matter to her. All she could do now was get over to them. She could already feel her body beginning to overload. She had just a few minutes to take them with her...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	27. The Last Option

Part 26: The Last Option  
  
"Ughn... what happened..." Clover grumbled groggily as she pushed herself up to her hands and knees. She was encased in a steel bubble of some kind... it took her a few moments to clear her mind, but when she did she sat straight up. Scanning the bubble she didn't see Sam with them, but Madison was sitting right behind her, staring out the small porthole in the side of the space suit and navigating with the remote in her hand.  
  
"You... you left Sam behind..." Clover growled darkly. Madison didn't look back at her, staring out the window instead.  
  
"We have more important things to think about. Like what we do now. We don't have any food, but thankfully this thing has a huge oxygen tank. We need to find someplace to dock... maybe another Zardexian sh-" She was interrupted when Clover tackled her from behind, slamming her face first into the side of the suit with a thunderous bang. "Clover!"  
  
"You left Sam to die!" Clover growled, gripping her throat tightly from behind. "How could you do that!?"  
  
"Clover! Get off of me!" Madison croaked angrily.  
  
"Shut up! You should've been the one out there you heartless monster!" Clover squeezed her throat tighter, shoving her cheek roughly into the side of the space suit. "You deserve to die right now!"  
  
"This is your last warning..." Madison croaked as Clover's hands squeezed her windpipe dangerously.  
  
"Or what?" Clover smirked confidently. "It looks to me like I have the upper hand."  
  
"Appearances are deceiving..." Madison, grabbed both of Clover's wrists and jammed her thumbs forcefully into the nerves underneath them. Clover yelped as her hands fell numb, allowing Madison to whirl and grab her, slamming her into the side of the suit and planting her foot on Clover's chest to hold her there, knelt down in front of her on the other knee.  
  
"Grk..." Clover grunted and tried to grab Madison's ankle, but her wrists were still too numb.  
  
"Listen to me, Clover." Madison's voice was calm, but her gaze was sharp. "If we turn on each other now, it's over for us. Sam is gone, nothing we do now or could've done can change that. Now get a grip on yourself, we have to find a way to get transportation to the planet Alex took those other settlers to. That's all we can do now, because this suit can't get us there before we run out of oxygen. Now are you going to be civil, or do I have to cut our oxygen usage in half by killing you?"  
  
Clover glared up at her darkly, but closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay... I'll calm down." Madison slowly moved away from her so Clover could sit up more calmly than before. Madison stayed on guard for any further aggression, but Clover kept her eyes closed and her chin to her chest. When she was convinced the blonde was no longer a threat, Madison picked up the remote and turned back to the suit's window.  
  
"I figure if we can get to one of the Zardexian scouts, we may be able to fool them into thinking we're one of them and letting us on board. From there, we might be able to take over the ship." Madison said.  
  
"We've never been able to kill them hand-to-hand before, why would we be able to now?" Clover asked.  
  
"One concern at a time. It's board a Zardexian ship or float in space until we both die." Madison replied.  
  
"Point taken." Clover conceded. Madison smirked and used the suit's jets to guide them toward one of the visible Zardexian ships nearby. Before they were halfway there Madison turned off the suit's jets, letting them drift toward the ship on their momentum alone. "What are you doing?" Clover asked curiously. "Why not just jet there?"  
  
"If we leave our jets on, they'll think we're conscious. If we drift in, they may think we're unconscious and not expect a radio reply." Madison informed her.  
  
"Wow... you thought a lot about this. How did you..." Clover was interrupted.  
  
"I've been involved in espionage since I was twelve, I think I've learned a few things." Madison explained drolly. Clover fell silent and nodded, curling up into a small ball. They both looked up when they heard a low, grumbling voice float into the suit through a small intercom near the window. Madison gestured for silence, and received an affirmative nod from Clover.  
  
The voice came back with the same series of unintelligible grunts for a few moments. Madison watched out the window carefully to see what the ship was doing... and to her relief a small hatch in the side began to open, just big enough to let their suit through. Two other suits filed out of the vessel to fly toward them.  
  
"They're coming to get us..." Clover whispered. "They're going to slaughter us when they find out what's in this suit."  
  
"I'm open to any suggestions you have." Madison whispered back. They both felt a jerk as the Zardians grabbed hold of the suit and began pulling it back toward the space vessel.  
  
"Hmm... wait for my signal, and then follow my lead." Clover whispered back. Madison nodded, and they both settled down to watch out the window as the ship loomed closer and closer. They moved through the small hangar door, which they heard close behind them. They could see movement outside of the suit, tentacles moving toward their last thread of shelter. The suit began to open...  
  
"Now!" Clover lurched forward onto her hands, then catapulted out of the suit. Startled cries erupted form the Zardexians and Madison alike, but Clover ignored them all and dashed for the door. She heard Madison's bootsteps right behind her, but the Zardexians moved after them with furious cries when they recovered from their surprise.  
  
Clover skidded into the hallway and slammed into the wall with a painful thud. She would've collapsed if Madison didn't dart past her and grab her wrist, dragging her along behind her down the hall away from their pursuers. They charged around a corner and turned another one quickly, before their pursuit could round the bend and get a bead on them.  
  
They leaned against the wall, panting heavily and trying to remain silent as they slid away from the still hunting aliens. The Zardexians rolled down the hall quickly, not even glancing in their direction before disappearing.  
  
Madison let out a soft sigh of relief. "Brilliant strategy." She quipped ironically.  
  
"Sometimes it's the stupidest, most obvious stuff that's the most unexpected and effective." Clover replied with a wink. "Now come on, we've got to find a way to-"  
  
She was cut off by a deep, but English speaking voice. "Got to hurry along to try to destroy this ship too?" Clover and Madison both jumped and whirled on a handsome looking man wearing a formal suit and a smirk on his face. "I was hoping we could speak in the loading bay, but this is as good a place as any I suppose."  
  
"You knew we were in the suit?" Madison asked.  
  
"Of course. Our sensors can detect you humans a million miles away." The man told them. "And far be it from us to let the people who ruined my beloved get off on a fate as pleasant as starvation or suffocation." His formerly somewhat pleasant demeanor changed as he marched forward, a vengeful glare contorting his features. Madison and Clover dropped into defensive crouches, though they knew it was probably hopeless.  
  
"So what, you have two more humans." Clover smirked. "Big freaking deal. We're never going to roll over and die... humanity will live on!"  
  
"On Argath?" The man asked casually. It took Clover a moment to figure out what he meant... the Argathin homeworld. The man grinned when he saw her surprised expression. "Yes, we were quite surprised to learn that those double-crossing lizards have decided to throw you humans a lifeline. We thought we put them in their place long ago but... some lessons have to be taught again, and again, and again it seems."  
  
"I... don't know what you're talking about." Clover bluffed. How could he possibly know about the Argathin rescue?  
  
"Don't play dumb, wretched human." The man scowled. "Your little friend already squealed all of your secrets. She told us exactly how many of you there are, where you are, and what you've been doing." He chuckled. "She was surprisingly easy to break actually. It almost seems like she's been conditioned by us before."  
  
Clover stared at him, then growled darkly. She knew what that meant... The Rev had been a Zardexian, and he'd controlled the ACC. The ACC's methods must have been based on Zardexian control methods... she remembered being caught by them, and she would rather die than go through that again. "I will kill you if you hurt her..." She growled.  
  
"Is that so?" The transformed Zardexian walked up to her, until they were face-to-face. "What are you going to do, human? Attack me? You know that's futile." He laughed. Clover growled again, but knew he was right. Attacking him would simply be throwing her life away... but she really would rather die than return to the Hell that had been the ACC.  
  
Suddenly a massive impact rocked the ship, sending all three of them flying up against the wall. The Zardexian hit the hardest, weighing the most. "Do it, now!" Madison shouted over the sudden roar of sirens over flashing red lights. Both women lurched forward with all their strength as the lights flashed, raining down blow after blow as hard as they could.  
  
For a brief moment they had the upper hand. But suddenly the Zardexian gripped Clover by the throat and shoved her back into Madison, sending them both hurtling through the air to the cold, steel floor. They skidded and rolled to a stop, watching the Zardexian climb to its feet again. It fixed its suit, then walked toward them again.  
  
Suddenly a gutteral sound like that of the Zardexian language came from the hall behind the Zardexian, but the voice resembled that of a human rather than a Zardexian. The man stopped and blinked in surprise, then whirled around.  
  
"Zeninia!?" He exclaimed in delight. "Zeninia, you survived!" Clover looked past him, and gasped in surprise when she saw Mandy marching down the hall toward them. There was a massive, thick field of violet energy flowing in the air around her, and her eyes were little more than purple pools of glowing light. Her expression was nothing short of vengeful.  
  
"That's more than I can say for you... you despicable, murderous monster." Mandy's voice was darker than before... and somehow it almost sounded like it had a faint echo.  
  
"Monster?" The Zardexian backed away from her instinctively as she approached. "Zeninia... I am your lover. You must remember... don't you?" He asked.  
  
"I remember." Mandy grabbed him by the throat and slammed him up against the wall before driving her other fist straight through his chest. It embedded itself into the steel behind him. His eyes went wide in shock. "I remember I was a monster too..." Mandy muttered. "Rest in Hell... my love. I'll join you soon." Mandy yanked her arm out of his chest as his shape began to change.  
  
A massive, round Zardexian body soon lay on the floor. Mandy turned to walk toward Clover and Madison. For a moment they backed away. "Come on, we have to get out of here."  
  
"Mandy..." Clover climbed to her feet slowly, staring at her. "What happened to you?"  
  
"Time for that later. This ship is going to detonate any second. Sam is on board, and pumped full of Faustium." Mandy told them. Clover gasped, but Madison didn't seem too surprised. "Come on, hurry." Mandy turned to jog down the hall, followed by the two fully human women. She led them to a corner, around which the air was being sucked through a hole in the side of the ship.  
  
"What now?" Madison asked.  
  
"I can fly us out." Mandy replied. "Just get ready..."  
  
"Wait!" Clover exclaimed. "That Zardexian mentioned Alex. What if she's on board? We have to find her!"  
  
"No time!" Mandy thrust an arm at them, wrapping them in violet energy.  
  
"No! Wait!" Clover tried to break free, but she was pulled forward and outside of the ship inside of the whirling energy. "Go back! Go back damnit!" Clover screamed. "I said go b-" Suddenly the vessel detonated in a violet flash of light, sending the newly formed ball of purple energy hurtling through the stars away from it. It finally steadied itself, and the three women inside stared blankly at the debris of the ship.  
  
"Sam..." Clover muttered. "Alex..."  
  
"Tarren was the head of the Zardexian military. Maybe now that he's dead... the wars will be over." Mandy commented.  
  
"Not a chance." Madison replied. "We've slowed them down for maybe a few minutes while the second-in-command takes charge of the fleet. Like any good war-hungry culture, they're going to have more than one commander in case one of them falls in battle." Madison nodded to the other ships around them, which were already resuming their course after surveying the wreckage. "They're still heading for Argath."  
  
"Then the Argathins are still screwed." Mandy replied. "And so are the humans on Argath."  
  
"It looks that way..." Madison replied.  
  
"Can't we do anything...?" Clover asked softly. "We've come all this way... fought all this time..."  
  
"All we can do now is deliver a warning..." Mandy told her. "Not that it would do anyone much good."  
  
"But it's better than nothing, right?" Clover insisted. "I mean, at least they could TRY to fight instead of getting caught by surprise and rolling over."  
  
"Perhaps we could find a way." Mandy said. "It will take them a few weeks yet to reach Argath from here... Mandy can get there in a fraction of the time." Mandy gestured to the violet cloud that surrounded them. "At the very least, we'd have time to convince the Argathins that it's really time to fight again."  
  
"Then let's do it!" Clover exclaimed.  
  
"Not like there's anything else to do." Madison agreed darkly. Mandy nodded and the violet energy cloud turned away from the Earth. Clover looked back to watch it, then let her gaze move to the cloud of debris before it was left far behind them. Sam was gone... lost to the stars. But what about Alex? Had she been on board too? Had Clover truly lost everyone she cared about at the same time...?  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	28. Betrayer of Humanity

Part 27: Betrayer of Humanity  
  
What had she done? How could she have sacrificed everyone...? Why would she tell them about the human settlement on the Argathin homeworld? How could she rat out Sam, Clover and the others? When did she become so weak? She remembered a time when she was strong, reliable... had all of this time fighting really broken her down so much? Even with all of their victories over the years, had it still broken her spirit so much that loyalty now meant nothing to her?  
  
These thoughts pained Alex more than the razor thin wires wrapped around her wrists, hanging her from the ceiling as her own blood trickled up her arms. Her hands had long since gone numb, and the horror of seeing her own blood trickle toward her neck had long since abated. Her entire body felt numb, but she was still conscious, staring at the mirror the Zardexians had placed in front of her so she could see every moment.  
  
She could hear the Zardexians moving about just on the other side of the door beyond the mirror, but she was never able to see them. Sometimes she wondered if she was really hearing them, or if she was beginning to go insane. The constant hum of the ship's engines was the only constant other than the image of the ragged, bloodstained woman that stared back at her from the mirror.  
  
She heard a sound from beyond the mirror, and for a moment she thought she was hallucinating... until the form of a brilliantly muscled man stood beside the mirror. He looked different from the one who had been there to take her prisoner, but the look in his eyes was no gentler.  
  
"You humans are one of the easiest races we've ever had the pleasure of conquering." He approached her with a sly smile on his face. Alex stared up at him as fiercely as she could, but it was hard to remain defiant when most of her body felt numb, and she knew there was no escape from this. "You practically rolled over for us all along... a few rough spots, but we've encountered far worse. Like your little friends you were so happy to tell us about."  
  
Alex looked away from him, looking down at a foot that was tied to the floor similarly to her hand. A small pool of blood was forming underneath her, since she was suspended in the air, bleeding from both wrists and ankles. "But I must give you one thing... you're defiant in your weakness. Some might call that bravery... but I call it foolishness."  
  
Alex remained silent, keeping her eyes cast downward. "And you know what the irony is? Tarren considered leaving those humans on Argath." Alex looked up at him darkly, a bit surprised. "But then your pathetic friends had to go and destroy him... along with a hundred and fifty Zardexian soldiers..." He gripped her chin roughly with one hand, forcing her to stare him down. "Now we're going to see that every single one of you is wiped from existence."  
  
Alex glared at him, then tried to turn her head away again only to have it yanked back by his overwhelmingly powerful arm. "You don't have anything to say, human? You were so talkative yesterday."  
  
Alex remained silent, staring at him with a blank... almost defeated look in her eyes. The Zardexian let out a guttural laugh and let go of her, allowing her chin to drop to her chest. "And here, our scout always sent reports that you humans had such spirit... that it took a long time for him to break you. I guess he did manage to break you before you finally killed him after all." He shook his head and turned to leave.  
  
"You'll all die..." Alex muttered softly and looked up at him weakly. The Zardexian stopped and looked back at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're going to die..." Alex told him. "One way or another... you'll die for killing so many..."  
  
"You're one to talk. You turned on your own people to save your own skin... which is the only reason you're not already dead." The Zardexian smirked. "You value your lives so much, that honor loses all meaning. Only when you're safe does the concept of 'chivalry' matter once again. But remember... just because you're alive for now doesn't mean you have to remain that way."  
  
Alex fell silent again. In stories and movies, one might have said they would rather be dead than hanging like this. But this Hell was familiar, if uncomfortable. The changes that death would bring were a complete mystery... and thus more frightening than any torture the Zardexians could visit upon her. The worst part of his words was that he was right. She would give up anything to stave off death... even if it meant selling out everything she ever knew.  
  
"Good, predictable human." He patted her head like a wounded animal and turned away from her. "We'll be done with your people soon enough... and then we'll decide your fate. Perhaps we'll let you live... perhaps not. Cross your fingers and pray we're feeling benevolent when we're finished." He walked past the mirror and vanished from sight.  
  
Alex closed her eyes and hung her head, trying to make her mind blank out. All she felt was relief at being left alive... and the guilt of being left alive at the expense of the remaining humans, the Argathins, and even her best friends.  
  
Her tears fell to the floor to mingle with the dried blood on the floor beneath.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	29. To War Once More

Part 28: To War Once More  
  
The shimmering violet form flew toward a large, forest-covered planet far from the Earth. It looked beautiful, and it only grew moreso as they entered the atmosphere. The energy seemed reluctant for a moment before plunging down through the clouds toward a massive building that they couldn't even begin to see the sides of. It took Sam a moment to figure out why Mandy was so nervous about entering the atmosphere.  
  
"Hey... is this energy disappearing!?" Madison shouted in alarm as the violet power began to shimmer in and out of view.  
  
"She's not as strong in a planet's atmosphere as she is in deep space." Mandy... or rather, Zeninia... told them. Clover still wasn't completely sure about what that was all about. She'd known the Zardexian woman wasn't really Mandy... but she was still so much like Mandy, and then for this bundle of energy to show up claiming to be Mandy... it was just confusing.  
  
"So are we going to plummet to our deaths now?" Madison smirked.  
  
"Hopefully not." Zeninia replied. The violet energy surged toward the ground, and slammed into the grass, though its occupants didn't feel anything but a slight jar as they came to a sudden stop. The energy slowly began to grow more transparent, leaving the three women standing on the grass in front of an impossibly large building.  
  
"Mandy?" Clover looked around. "Are you going to be okay?"  
  
"If I understand things right, she'll be fine. She just can't hold physical mass in a planet's atmosphere." Zeninia marched up to the building and places one hand on a cool window. "Now if we could just find a way in..."  
  
"Don't see a doorbell." Madison picked up a hefty rock from the ground and hurled it up at one of the windows. The glass shattered with a crash. "So we'll just have to get their attention." Clover and Zeninia smirked, but didn't complain as they listened to a series of tiny footsteps approach the wall. To their surprise the wall bent inward as if there'd been a door there all along, and a group of little green aliens were standing with guns pointed at them. The three women put their arms up.  
  
"Why are you attacking us, human?" One of the aliens demanded.  
  
"We're not attacking you, we were just trying to get your attention." Madison replied. "We have to speak with whoever's in charge here... now."  
  
"We agreed to let you remain in the forest." The alien stated. "Letting you in could jeopardize our truce with the Zardexians."  
  
"Any truce you had is over." Clover smirked. "The Zardexians know you took our friends and hid them, and they're on their way here as we speak." The little aliens lowered their weapons slightly and began chattering fearfully among themselves in their own language. The three women watched them until they moved aside and jerked their weapons inward.  
  
"Come on. Quickly." The alien said. Clover, Madison, and Zeninia walked past them into the building, being led through winding hallways, a strangely moving type of elevator, and finally down another hallway into what almost looked like a large courtroom. A series of green aliens were seated behind a bench that circled the room. They all stared down at the women.  
  
"You've made some disturbing claims it seems." One of them said.  
  
"True statements." Madison said. "Though I would be interested to know what this 'truce' your lackey talked about meant."  
  
"That is not your concern." The alien told them.  
  
"But the aliens coming to kill us all are our concern. And they're your concern as well." Madison pointed out. "Whatever happened in the past, it's time to get ready to fight again."  
  
"Insanity." One of the other Argathins exclaimed. "The Zardexians cannot be vanquished in combat. It would be a futile war, as it was over a decade ago, and as it was for you humans."  
  
"Yet if the Zardexians are truly on their way now, their threat cannot be ignored." A different alien spoke.  
  
"Give the humans to them... all of the humans. And pray that they accept them along with our sincerest apologies." The second alien replied.  
  
"That won't do it." Madison interrupted. "And frankly, if you're ever going to stand up to the Zardexians, NOW is the time." All eyes turned on her. "Recent developments have lead to the death of their commander. Someone new... an untested general is in charge of their entire army. This means they're weaker now than they were before, and the longer you wait to try to fight back again, the stronger they'll become until they will once again be undefeatable."  
  
Despite the grave seriousness of the situation, Clover found her gaze turning toward Mandy... er... Zeninia. She was standing with her back straight and her hands clasped behind her like a soldier, looking around at the Argathins. Her expression was one of... oddly enough... guilt and regret. Clover watched her until she was noticed, at which point she faced forward again.  
  
"Regardless of the circumstances... fighting the Zardexians would be complete and utter suicide..." The Argathin in the center climbed to his feet. Everyone in the room watched him. "We'll round up the rest of the humans... and we will offer them to the Zardexians as a peace offering."  
  
"And if that fails?" Madison smirked.  
  
"Guards, take them to a cell. And dispatch a team to retrieve the humans in the forest." The old Argathin said.  
  
"You can't do this!" Clover complained as several aliens grabbed her arms and started to drag her out of the room. "You stop this you fucking traitor! Let us go!" She cast a glance over at Zeninia, who was still standing in place despite the Argathins' best efforts to move her. "Mandy! Zeninia! Whoever the Hell you are, do something!"  
  
Zeninia growled and swept one arm outward, brushing four Argathins aside like little children and marched forward. Instantly every guard in the place whirled on her with their weapons drawn, but she stopped in the middle of the room, ignoring them and looking around.  
  
"I can help you beat them." She stated. "I can give you the weakest points of their ships... the technical limitations... everything you'd need to bring down every single one of them."  
  
"And how could you do that?" The Argathin asked.  
  
"Because I'm one of them." Zeninia stated simply. The Argathins surrounding her tenses noticeably, and the council above them suddenly looked very, very nervous. She didn't respond to any of that, however. "And I want to help you kill them all..."  
  
"Why would a Zardexian want to destroy her own people?" The Argathin smirked. "We know how you THINGS work. You infiltrate, and then create chaos from within. Why should we think that this is any different?"  
  
"Would it make a difference if I was lying?" Zeninia smirked. "You know you can't defeat them in a head-to-head battle without some kind of edge, and I know that they're not interested in talking after your actions helped cause the death of their commander. Either you refuse my offer and die, or you take a risk, accept my offer, and have a chance."  
  
The aged Argathin sat back in his chair, studying her appraisingly. "What would you want for helping us?" He asked.  
  
"A guarantee. That no matter what happens, you'll leave the humans on this planet alone." Zeninia replied. The Argathins exchanged surprised glances while the leader continued to study her, his fingers forming a pyramid on the desk in front of him.  
  
"Why would a Zardexian care about humans?" He asked curiously. Zeninia just stared at him, then cast a sidelong glance at Clover. The blonde woman stared back into her eyes until the Zardexian woman turned back to the Argathin council before her.  
  
"I have my reasons..." Zeninia stated softly. "But the bottom line is... I don't want anyone else to die. And by our nature, we Zardexians must kill to survive... it's in our very blood. So to stop the death... we have to be annihilated." The Argathins stared at her in amazement for several minutes. Clover stared at her as well.  
  
The Argathin in the center exchanged glances with those around him, then looked down at her again. "We accept your proposal, Zardexian. We'll begin preparing our fleet immediately... while you give us the information." Zeninia nodded as several Argathin guards turned to leave to assemble the fleet.  
  
Clover watched all of this with a stunned expression on her face... and a bit of sadness in her heart. This wasn't Mandy anymore... this wasn't the woman who she'd been with since Dämon-Mörder. She was totally different now. Perhaps, Clover was right when she'd believed she lost everyone she cared about...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


	30. Revolution and Redemption

Part 29: Revolution and Redemption 

The endless vacuum of space remained out of reach for so long. Silent... beckoning... and at the same time one of the deadliest forces in existence. Now it seemed to have become so small, as two forces floated inevitably toward each other. It would take more than a simple battle. The threat of annihilation hung over the loser, who would vanish forever from the emptiness of space, never to return. 

The black ships of the Zardexians armada floated through space toward Argath, the world on which both the Argathin race and the last remnants of humanity were hiding. On board one of the ships, Alex still hung, weak from hunger and blood-loss, but still alive though she couldn't begin to guess why. Her heart was torn by it's own greed. She remembered the world she'd helped build... the world she'd now put in jeopardy to save her own life. 

The golden vessels of the Argathin fleet also flew through the stars, carrying within them the Zardexian traitor, Zeninia, and the last two humans who'd remained on Earth, Clover and Madison. Zeninia spent all of her time on the bridge, and Clover stayed with her. It was never spoken, but Clover knew that things had forever changed inside the Zardexian woman who had been her love. She wasn't Mandy... by now Clover had come to accept that... but in truth, she didn't care. Still, Zeninia obviously didn't feel the same. 

The stars were still despite the tensions rising in both camps, as if the universe had turned a blind eye to what, to the participants, seemed as if it surely must have been one of the defining moments of existence. This feeling grew even more heated as they picked each other up on their sensors over the vast distances of space. Clover turned to Zeninia, and Alex raised her head as alarms began to blare in every alien ship. 

Suddenly the darkness was pierced by golden and crimson laser fire. Explosions erupted all around the ships, and soon the calm seemed to have been completely overtaken by a furious intensity. 

"Aim for the spots detailed in the targeting computers!" Ay-Leex shouted to the Argathins scattered about the bridge. They saluted back and turned to continue firing, a few taking time to transmit the order to other ships in the fleet. Clover, Madison, and Zeninia clung to the rails behind the captain's seat to keep from being thrown off-balance by the Zardexians' return fire. 

_Alex was jerked around in the Zardexian vessel, taking on the full brunt of the Zardexians fire until suddenly the panels over her head gave way and collapsed on top of her._

Clover clung to the rail for dear life as the ship jerked under their feet. Outside the front window they could see the golden fire of the Argathin vessel plunging deep into one of the smaller Zardexian ships. It tore through the middle, detonating it within a second, though it was just as quickly replaced by a smaller ship. 

"I think we may make it..." Clover grinned even as the ship rocked under her feet. "We're going to make it." She looked over at her violet-haired companion, who was just staring intently at the screen. She looked at the Zardexian woman to see her not paying any attention either. "Cheery..." Clover grumbled, though she was cut off when the ship rocked yet again. 

_Alex fell to the ground with a heavy thump as the steel plates rained around her. She yelled out in pain as several landed on her back. She lay on the ground for a few minutes as the crimson sirens blared, waiting for the feeling in her arms to return enough to use them, and the pain in her back to fade into a dull throb._

"Aargh!" Clover yelped in surprise when the ship lurched to one side, sending her hurtling into the floor. "Aren't we making it!?" Clover yelled worriedly. Suddenly a piercing crimson laser cut through the floor of the bridge in a shower of sparks. It engulfed several Argathins, including Ay-Leex, disintegrating them within a second. 

When the laser subsided, the holes in the ship began to suck them forward. Clover grabbed the rail tightly alongside Zeninia and Madison, who were doing the same thing. 

"We've got to get out of here! The oxygen is being drained quickly!" Madison screamed over the roar of the wind tunnel. 

"The door!" Zeninia screamed. Clover and Madison looked just in time to see a thick steel plate close over the door, cutting them off from the rest of the ship. 

"Get it open, we've got to get out!" Madison shouted. 

_Alex pushed herself up on shaking limbs as the ship lurched to the side again, throwing her into the wall. "Ugh... what is going on out there...?" She grumbled warily as she slid along the wall toward the door beyond the mirror. She emerged into the hall, which looked like a war zone. Ceiling panels had fallen to the floor all over the place, and the walls had electrical wires sticking out randomly._

"Huh?" Zeninia looked down at her arms as they began to pulse with bright purple energy. "Mandy." The three women looked to see the energy appear underneath the hole. The suction subsided, but didn't stop as the Starlight Specter pressed itself as hard against the exit as it could. Zeninia's eyes flashed violet for a moment. "She's telling us to get out of this room." 

"Gladly, if we had an open door." Madison snapped. 

"Couldn't we just ride Mandy?" Clover felt really, really weird asking that, but this wasn't the time to dwell on it. 

"With this kind of fighting around us, it could be suicide." Zeninia replied. 

"Staying here is suicide too!" Clover ran toward the hole in the floor. "Now come on!" She jumped down into the specter, and was promptly sucked into the swirling violet energy. Madison and Zeninia exchanged a glance, then ran toward them and jumped into the specter as well. They sat together inside the energy as Mandy pulled away from the solid steel ship into the line of fire from both sides. 

_Alex stumbled down the hallway, sliding weakly along the wall. A few Zardexians rushed past her, but didn't even seem to realize she was there. Alex watched them go, then resumed her trek down the corridor until she emerged into what looked like the ship's bridge. The vessel rocked violently, knocking Alex face-first into the floor as the Zardexians howled in anger._

"Left! Up! RIIGHT!" Clover howled in a panic as the pulsing violet specter weaved through a barrage of laser fire so intense it reminded her of the high-security-grids they'd had to get through so often as spies long ago. One particular laser actually cut through Mandy's spectral wing just two feet away from her, though it reformed quickly. 

"Stop backseat driving!" Madison screamed. 

"Excuse me girls, but we need a place to go. Mandy can't keep this up forever." Zeninia stated. There were no sounds from the laser fire, as sound didn't travel through space. But still, the adrenaline of being caught in a full-scale battle wasn't muted at all. If anything, it made the lasers seem even deadlier for their silence. 

"Another Argathin ship." Clover said. 

"We wouldn't be helping anybody that way." Madison replied. 

"We're not helping anybody NOW! We're just a bunch of moving targets!" 

"If we can get on board a Zardexian ship, Zeninia could commandeer it and we could use it to turn the tables even further on the Zardexians." Madison turned to Zeninia. "If you're willing to do it." 

"Suits me." Zeninia replied, though she had a more subdued look in her eyes. Clover stared at her, but the violet energy around them turned toward one of the larger Zardexian ships that was floating nearby. 

_Alex climbed back up to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall. Outside the front windshield Alex could see the laser fire erupting from both the black Zardexian ships and the golden Argathin ships. One golden light struck the front of the ship she was in, causing the ship to shudder violently. Alex clung to the doorframe to hold herself up. She blinked in surprise when she saw a violet stream of energy streaking through the stars toward them. The Zardexian ship fired on them, but they couldn't tag it before it vanished from sight. Alex fell to the ground again as she felt another shudder... _

"Come on!" Clover darted out of the violet energy bundle into the ship's hallway. Mandy blocked the hole in the side of the ship for the moment until the three women got to the end of the hall and through a door they were able to close. They heard the sound of crushing metal as the Starlight Specter pulled back out of the ship, leaving them on board. 

"We've got to get to the bridge. This way." Zeninia turned to march down the hallway, but before they could reach the first turn several Zardexians rounded the corner, snarling viciously and flexing their tentacles out to their sides. Zeninia stood firm in her position, letting her arms dangle at her sides as she faced off with the snarling aliens. 

_Alex groaned and pushed herself up painfully to her feet again. She stopped when she opened her eyes, seeing the massive form of a Zardexian standing right in front of her. She couldn't see it's eyes, but the snarl its lip pulled into told her it wasn't too happy about her presence there. "I... I'll just... g-" Alex couldn't even finish before one tentacle wrapped around her and hurled her into the middle of the bridge. She hit the floor hard and rolled to a stop, her arm throbbing with pain._

Zeninia launched herself forward with a vicious yell. Zardexian tentacles surged toward her like a thick wall of vines, but she whirled in a quick pirouette toward them, making it hard for the tentacles to get a grip on her. She straightened out at the last minute, one arm plunging deep into the hard shell of the Zardexian to her right with a sickening noise. 

She yanked her arm out and leapt up, using the falling Zardexian as leverage to fly over the second alien, coming down on top of it with a furious yell as her arm flared with bright violet light. Her arm cut through the Zardexian's body vertically like a blade, sending the two halves up against the walls beside her. The dark core of the alien burst into smoke and vanished without a trace, leaving only the dark purple blood seeping onto the steel floor. 

Clover whistled. "Why didn't you do that on Earth?" 

"Didn't know I could." Zeninia replied. "Come on, we should go." The alien turned to march down the hall, but Madison stopped her. 

"Why are you so much stronger than they are? You are just a Zardexian right?" Madison pointed out. 

"It's too long of a story to tell right now... but I think Mandy somehow transferred some of her Faustium to me. That's why I'm so much stronger than they are." 

"That doesn't explain why you're not quite as invulnerable as them..." Clover pointed out. 

"We're on a time limit here girls. Come on." Zeninia marched down the hall away from them. Clover and Madison exchanged a glance, then rushed to catch up with her. 

_"Aaaagh!" Alex screamed in pain as her back slammed into the thick steel wall. She collapsed to the ground in a heap, tears streaming down her cheeks as the enraged Zardexian rolled toward her again. The other aliens almost seemed to be enjoying the spectacle as its tentacle wrapped around her stomach and lifted her from the ground like a limp rag doll. Alex gripped the tentacle and tried to push it off of her, but it only tightened, squeezing painfully around the middle._

"Rrraaaaagh!" Zeninia howled as she charged into a large room full of surprised looking Zardexians. She cut into them with a fluid grace that might only have been found on television once. Her entire body pulsed with violet light. Each pulse grew brighter every time she cut through an alien, until it was practically crackling as she cleared the room. At last she landed the last blow, and the last Zardexian collapsed dead to the floor. 

"G... gggrgh..." Zeninia gurgled in pain and fell to her knees as the violet power surged one more time through her body. 

"Mand... Zeninia!" Clover ran forward with Madison right beside her. She knelt down beside the black-haired Zardexian, putting one arm around her shoulders. The violet light began to subside. "Are you okay? What's happening to you?" Clover asked. Zeninia remained silent, but Madison figured it out. 

"She's not immune to the Fautium's... side-effect." Madison said. "The overload is starting to build up now that she's exercising it to it's fullest potential." Clover stared at her blankly, then looked down at Zeninia while the violet light faded completely. She helped the Zardexian woman to her feet, trying to catch her eyes, though Zeninia did not look at her. 

"We have to keep moving. If I remember the layout of these capital ships correctly, the bridge isn't too far from here." Zeninia pulled away from Clover's grip and marched out of the small alien rec room. The blonde ex-spy rushed to follow after her. 

_Alex grunted as she was slammed face first down on the console in the middle of the large bridge. Her body was aching and her limbs were wracked by uncontrollable spasms. She opened her red eyes, looking up at the aliens that had gathered around her. Others remained at their computer consoles, trying to defend them against what looked like a full scale Argathin assault. The Zardexians moved toward her, the tentacles threatening to tear her apart._

"Out of our way!" Zeninia tore through the bodies of the Zardexian crewmembers that got in her way. The violet surges grew bright and brighter, engulfing more and more of her body until it was almost painful to look at her. Even as the energy brightened, her attacks grew stronger and stronger until one kick began to send the massive balls of tentacles sailing into the walls with a sickening splat. 

_Alex closed her eyes as the tentacle lifted her toward the mouth of the waiting Zardexian. She could feel its searing hot breath wash over her face and chest. She shuddered in fear and revulsion, waiting for the mouth to engulf her. But suddenly she heard a massive explosion from the direction of the exit. She opened her eyes and looked in surprise to see the figure of Mandy standing in the door. Her eyes went wide and a gasp escaped her lips. Mandy... the old Mandy, her own body and everything..._

"Alex!" Clover charged into the room while Zeninia let out a howl and charged forward into the pack of Zardexians. Alex screamed in fear, but Zeninia's assault flashed around her, ripping through alien flesh with the same ease that it avoided leaving so much as a scratch on Alex. Alex was shivering in shock as the Zardexians fell away from her. One severed tentacle was still wrapped around her stomach. 

"Alex, you're alive!" Clover ran forward and wrapped the stunned Latino woman up in a tight hug. "I thought... I thought you blew up on the other ship..." She gulped. 

"C... Clover..." Alex gulped and hugged Clover back weakly, though her eyes never left Zeninia. Clover looked at the same time to see Mandy leaning heavily against the captain's seat, clutching it with both hands as the violet energy roared through her veins. For a moment it looked like she was in serious pain, but finally it subsided and she began to pant heavily, closing her eyes. "What's... going on...?" 

"It'd take too long to explain, and we don't have a whole lot of time." Madison walked up to the front windshield, looking out across the battlefield outside. Pieces of gold and black ships floated aimlessly through space, and explosions seemed to rock the stars themselves. "At this rate, the Argathin fleet will lose. Even with the info Zeninia gave them, their technology is no match for the Zardexians'." 

"This is all my fault..." Alex muttered softly. "I told them the Argathins were hiding Kira and the others..." She closed her eyes and lowered her head. "Now everyone's..." 

"Ssshhhh..." Clover whispered softly, wrapping her arms around her tightly and holding her head against her shoulder. "Nobody blames you... I don't know if anyone could have resisted them... these are the bastards who created the ACC after all..." 

"Regardless of blame, we need a course of action." Madison stated simply. "Should we open fire on the other Zardexian ships and see if the surprise factor helps?" 

"One ship isn't enough." Zeninia stood up straight and walked to the main console, looking down at it. "We'd be blown to pieces along with everyone else. We need a decisive way to take down every ship in the Zardexian fleet..." She tapped on the console, narrowing her eyes curiously. "And I think I'm remembering..." 

"Come on Alex, can you stand up?" Clover put one of her friend's arms around her shoulder and pulled her up. 

"Yeah... thanks..." Alex said softly as she leaned against her. "Where's Sam? Is she on board one of the Argathin ships?" Clover fell silent and looked away from her, looking out the window at the battle that was still raging among the stars. A massive blast rocked the ship they were in, sending its occupants stumbling to stay upright. 

"We need a plan!" Madison growled. 

"Both of you, give me your Faustium vials." Zeninia turned toward them. Clover and Madison stared at her in surprise. 

"How do you know...?" Madison asked. 

"I can feel them... now give them here, I have an idea." Zeninia stated. Madison stared at her for a moment, then pulled the small vile out of her pocket and placed it in the Zardexian's hand. 

"What are you doing to do?" Clover asked. 

"Kill them all." Zeninia stated simply. For a moment Clover was about to protest... then she calmly reached into her pocket and placed the vial of Faustium she'd been keeping in the alien's hand. Zeninia turned away from them and moved back to the main control console. "You three should get out of here... there should be an escape shuttle left for you." 

"What about you?" Alex asked. "I don't want you to kill yourself again Mandy." The Zardexian raised her head, then looked back at the Latino woman with a cold gaze. 

"I'm not Mandy..." She turned back to the console. "I never could be... now all of you, get out of here." Alex stared at her in confusion. She looked, sounded, even acted like Mandy... 

"Come on Alex, I'll explain it to you when we're safe." Clover pulled Alex toward the bridge exit. Madison moved beside them to help Clover carry the still extremely weak Latino woman through the ship's hallway. 

_Zeninia stood in front of the console, clutching both open bottles of Faustium in one hand. Outside the windshield, she could see the crimson and golden laser fire shining from the ships. One after another, the Argathin ships fell at almost twice the rate Zardexian ones did. Here, in deep space, the Zardexians would rule. But not if she overloaded every single ship... to be as efficient as possible, all Zardexian ships were internally linked with each other. A specific kind of overload in one, could wipe them all out._

"Come on Alex, it shouldn't be too far now." Clover struggled slightly under the weight of her mostly limp friend. "You'll be okay, we'll get you to the village and take care of you there. Then the Zardexians'll be gone, and we won't have to worry about any of this ever again." Clover squeezed her waist comfortingly with one arm. "We just have to keep moving now." She said as she pulled her friend along. Alex however looked like she was beyond exhausted. The dried blood that practically coated her upper body had to be hers... it was a miracle she was still breathing at all really. "Just hold on..." 

_Zeninia raised the two vials and poured their contents into her throat. She threw the two glass containers to the floor. They shattered on impact even as she felt the power roaring through her veins. Manageably at first, but slowly it built and built until it felt like every cell in her body was screaming in pain. An animal scream erupted from her throat, but she wouldn't let it stop her. She raised one hand to the air, clenching her fists against the pain. The power roared into her hand, though it by no means left the rest of her body. She almost blacked out from the pain, but she wouldn't let that happen._

"This way!" Clover dragged Alex into one of the ship's hangar bays, where several small vessels were waiting. On their journey through the ship, Zeninia had taken out a good portion of the crew. "Into the ship here, quickly." Clover and Madison pulled Alex into one of the small ships. Clover sat down with her weak friend while Madison moved to close the hatch, then head up into the cockpit. "Alex, don't you dare close your eyes." Clover slapped her lightly to keep her awake. 

"I'm... I'm awake..." Alex complained weakly. Clover wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close as she felt the ship beginning to lift off of the floor. 

_Zeninia slammed her palm into the console in front of her. The pulsing violet power surged through it, running through every ship in the system. The lights began to fluctuate, and a deafening, screeching siren began to wail throughout the hollow vessel. Outside the window she could see the other ships beginning to shudder, with sparks of violet power rushing through them as well. It was working... the sight was almost enough to ease her aching conscience. She was guilty of simply being born a murderer... well she was going to die a hero no matter what it took._

"We're going girls!" Madison's voice echoed over the Comm. System as the ship lurched forward. Clover wrapped her arms around Alex tightly, holding her close as the ship passed quickly outside the window. She could see sparks running through the walls, and red lights flashed on and off erratically. Finally the ship burst through the outside of the massive vessel, streaking out into the stars as the ship behind them shuddered violently. 

"Hold on Alex!" Clover held onto Alex tightly as the massive ship behind them detonated. The shockwave washed over the smaller ship, sending it hurtling forward through space. Clover and Alex fell to the floor with a pair of heavy thuds and the ship continued to shudder. Clover clung to her weak friend until the shudders subsided, leaving only a thick, oppressive silence. 

"Is... is that it...?" Clover muttered in shock. She pushed herself up to her knees and looked out the side window. She could see what remained of the Argathin fleet moving toward the very few Zardexian vessels that remained. The sheer number of black steel pieces floating around them was staggering. "Is it over... just like that?" 

"Looks like the Zardexian fleet's crippled." Madison's voice came back over the Comm. System. "I've already warned the Argathin fleet that we're not hostiles... so we should be fine from here on out. The Zardexian ships aren't making any aggressive moves either. The war's over." She said. Clover let out a heavy sigh of relief and knelt down beside her friend again. 

"Did you hear that Alex? It's over!" Clover reached down to pull her friend into a hug, but stopped when she noticed that Alex's eyes were closed. "Alex...?" Clover gently slapped her face lightly... but got no response. Her expression remained fixed in a peaceful slumber. Her chest was no longer moving. 

Clover stared at her in shock, slowly turning to sorrow. They'd been so close... just a little longer, and she could've gotten Alex to someone who could help her. Clover closed her eyes and lowered her head to her chest as she pulled Alex's cheek gently against her. "We won, Alex..." Clover sniffled lightly. "No more oppression... and no more war..." 

Tears slid down her cheeks as she gently held Alex to her chest. Her cheek rested on top of Alex's head. "We can all rest now..." She croaked through her tears, trying to see that everything had worked out for the best. 

A soft sound echoed in her head, drawing her teary gaze toward the window. Outside, she could see the shining violet form of Mandy's Starlight Specter pacing the ship as it flew through the stars. Clover remained silent, just watching the light form fly through the stars. Finally it turned away and vanished into the darkness... with apparently nothing left here for her to gain. Clover nodded and looked down at Alex again, to wait for them to reach their destination. Alex had wanted to go to their new home again... Clover would make sure she did. 

TO BE CONTINUED 


	31. Epilogue: The Future Continues

Epilogue: The Future Continues 

If one believed in destiny, they would believe that this had to happen for a reason. If one believed in God, he was calling his faithful home, or condemning the sinners to Hell. If one believed in the sanctity of the Earth... well... they were pretty well screwed, because the Earth itself was gone now. They could have returned they supposed, but there didn't seem to be any point in it. The Earth's resources were almost depleted, the ozone destroyed, pollution and nuclear radiation were slowly rendering it uninhabitable. A lesson learned far too late. 

Clover stood in front of the small stone slab that stuck up from the ground. The villagers had been here on Argath for barely two months, but the size of their graveyard was considerable. Clover couldn't contain her tears as she read the inscription on the newest addition to an area that already seemed far too big. 

Alexandria Navarro   
September 12th 1988-June 7th 2013   
Your courage, love, and loyalty made the universe seem small   
May your love continue to shine on us all from where you've gone   
Because one day we will be there beside you once again   
We love you Alex

Clover turned her tear-filled gaze to the side as a young-looking girl with dark skin came up the hill toward the graveyard. She wore the skins that seem to have become customary in this village, and she had a haunted look on her face. Clover didn't speak as the girl approached, stopping at the very top of the hill, several feet away from the mound of recently upturned dirt. 

"I... I had to come see if it was really her." The girl choked out with a sad smile. "She... she never even really said goodbye... she just left me her journal..." She gulped and shook her head. "I thought she would be back when she was done with whatever it was she had to do..." 

"She had to do what she always did." Clover forced herself to speak. "Worry about everyone else around her at the expense of her own life..." The girl nodded and walked slowly up to the grave, kneeling down in front of it and putting her hand on the soft Earth. 

"They say... they say she helped save us..." The girl said. Clover paused for a moment. That wasn't quite the truth... if Alex had remained here in the village, everyone on Earth would've been wiped out... but the people here on Argath would have remained safe. In the long run, it seemed like Alex had caused more trouble than anything else for Argath... yet it was because of her that the Zardexians had been vanquished. 

"She was a great woman." Clover said finally. "She didn't save us... she saved billions upon billions of planets everywhere in the universe." She said sincerely. The girl smiled back at her despite the tears that were running down her cheeks. Clover smiled back and got down on her knees in front of the grave beside the girl. 

They remained silent, sisters in their grief for the woman who had touched their hearts. Clover knew that Alex would have done absolutely anything for them... she knew her friend would have given up her own heart to see someone else be happy. And that was exactly what she had done, really. For all the mistakes she made, her heart had never gone astray like so many others. She was the purest woman Clover could have ever hoped to meet... and her memory would always be treasured. 

_The stars were silent... inevitably, oppressively silent. Mandy knew she had better get used to it... but she couldn't. For all she had suffered in her life at the hands of the Imperium, she would have gladly gone back to escape this oppressive loneliness. With Alex gone, and everyone else settled down on Argath, she was once again left here with nobody else. No other alien species, no other Starlight Specters, nothing. _

She turned in space when she heard a soft cry. It was pretty far away, but she called back to it, and she could feel it moving toward her. Mandy turned to drift toward the sound. Her heart would have been beating in excitement if she'd still had a heart. Finally in front of her she could see another violet stream of energy moving toward her. A companion... a sister... after months of oppressive loneliness, she would finally have someone to join her. 

The second Specter moved up to her, radiating confusion and disorientation, but Mandy silently began to roll around her. She moved forward, and the second Specter moved after her much to her delight. She would teach her new... or old... friend what had happened, and they would be together. No longer alone, she might finally be happy. 

Ashes to Ashes. Dust to Dust. Fade to Black. It is Finished. 

Clarifications: This is where I explain things that people might not have picked up on. 

**What is a Starlight Specter?**

One of the Argathins explained to Alex that Starlight Specters are mental impressions of energy... basically, they are what their names suggest. They're ghosts who float in space. But it was also pointed out that Mandy's Specter was unique in both its size and definition. It wasn't typical. 

**What makes Mandy different?**

She's stronger, bigger, brighter, and smarter. This is because she was detonated by the Faustium, and the Faustium worked to ensure that she had a specter, and that it would be extremely powerful. 

**Mandy here... Mandy there... what's the deal?**

Okay, in Memories of the Future Mandy sacrificed herself to kill the man who'd been oppressing the entire planet. Obviously, her name would have become the stuff of legend after that. The Zardexians discovered this and tried to have one of their own soldiers, Zeninia, become Mandy and try to spread confusion among the humans, rendering them even more helpless. But the real Mandy got wind of this and destroyed their ship before they could reach Dämon-Mörder, and interrupting the memory alteration that would have made Zeninia convincing as Mandy. So Zeninia took Mandy's body and mind, essentially becoming a second Mandy until her old memories began to resurface. 

**Who was the second Starlight Specter in the end?**

Sam. 

Thank you all for reading through this monstrous tribute to the author who (quite unintentionally) challenged me to expand upon my own writing into areas I once reached for, but had since lost somewhere along the line. I hope to write far more after this, either fanfiction or original. We'll see what happens. 


End file.
